The Minister with responsibility for the Family Islands, V. Alfred Gray said yesterday that if he were to rate the roads on the Family Islands he would give them a passing grade.

Questions were raised yesterday after another Family Island traffic fatality was reported on Cat Island late Saturday night.

A man was killed in that crash and a teen had to be airlifted to the capital for treatment.

According to police, after 11:00 p.m. on Saturday the accident occurred in Douds, Cat Island just south of New Bight involving a grey Ford Club Wagon and a White Ford Escape driven by an adult male carrying five passengers.

During the accident the driver of the Ford Escape was ejected from the vehicle and was taken to the local clinic along with his passengers to be treated for injuries received.

However, the driver later succumbed to his injuries.

The Bahama Journal has learned that an eleventh grade student of Old Bight High on that island was airlifted to New Providence to be treated for serious injuries.

This is the second traffic fatality to occur on one of the Family Islands in a week as two men were killed when the vehicle they were driving overturned on a road in Acklins.

And these accidents follow deaths of three men killed in road crashes in Eleuthera in separate incidents just days apart last month.

Although investigations into the most recent fatality are still ongoing, the minister has come to the defense of his government who some blame for the poor state of a lot of Family Island roads.

“All of them [the roads] are not as good as we would like them to be,” he said.

“But I know the government has a programme to take one road at a time and improve them. But you know, the roads just don’t go into disrepair overnight. I think if we want to be truthful about it some of the roads have been in deteriorating stages for five, seven, eight and 10 years. I think we have got to ask ourselves why. It is something that we inherited and we intend to do something about it.”

The minister expressed sadness over the loss of yet another life due to a traffic accident.

He said he hopes Family Islanders would continue to be cautious as they use the roadways because “one death is too many.”

“I am not fully aware of all of the circumstances surrounding the accident in Cat Island,” the minister said.

“But I want to appeal to all Family Islanders using the roads everywhere to go slow. Go carefully. Go cautiously.”

The minister said it is the government’s mandate to fix these roads so they do not contribute to any more road deaths.