Posted by K. Eva on September 05, 2001 at 08:08:10:
We are watching footage here (on ZNS-TV) from a fire which destroyed the Ministry of Tourism, and several buildings to the west of it, on Tuesday afternoon. One of the buildings was the Vendue House, former home of BEC and before that, the site of the original slave market at which many modern Bahamians' ancestors were sold. Vendue House currently houses the Pompey Museum of Slavery.
The fire is still burning at this hour, according to reports. Arson is not being ruled out at this time. There should be extensive coverage on the Nassau Guardian [www.thenassauguardian.com] and Bahama Journal websites tomorrow morning.
The most disheartening thing about the pictures we are seeing is that there seemed to be no plan and little preparation for such an eventuality in the downtown area. Fire hydrants in the area did not seem to be functioning, and there was no use of tugboats etc to pump seawater onto the buildings from the harbour which is only feet away. Also the reporter is telling us that some of the historical artifacts from the Pompey Museum were stolen after they were safely removed from the building prior to its destruction.
k.eva