“We deh from house to house since the accident,” a frustrated Mohamed Kazim Hanif, whose house collapsed after two cars slammed into it last month, said yesterday.
Hanif is the owner of the Lot 12 Ruby, East Bank Essequibo house that was damaged when two cars slammed into its front supporting posts on May 2, leaving one of the drivers dead and a passenger injured.
Two days after the accident Hanif had reported that efforts were made to “jack the house up but portions of the walls collapsed as a result. However, Hanif yesterday explained that he was forced to rip the house down. The man and his family have since received help from various organizations and individuals within the Islamic community. They are in the process of rebuilding but don’t have enough money to complete the house.
“We get some help from members of the Islamic community and we start to build but de work lef’ stall up because we na got enough money to finish it one time,” he said.
Relatives of those involved in the accident, Hanif said, had earlier indicated that they couldn’t “afford” to provide compensation. Hanif had explained that he was a reasonable man and was willing to wait. Police, he further said, were not responding to his inquiries in “an encouraging manner”.
Police, in a press statement issued later that day had said they are investigating a “fatal accident,” which occurred at about 1:45 am.
Investigations, the release had stated, revealed that motor car PKK 1134, reportedly driven by Ramesh Sookhdeo called Jerry, “attempted to overtake motor car PLL 5706, which was being driven by Romeo Randolph, and in doing so struck the rear of PLL 5706.” As a result both drivers lost control of their vehicles.
Sookhdeo, according to reports, was thrown from the vehicle and sustained injuries. He was taken to the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH) where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Richard Whyte, a passenger in Sookhdeo’s vehicle, sustained injuries as well. Whyte, 27, of Hydronie, Parika was rushed to the WDRH and later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital where he remained for more than two weeks.
Randolph, a farmer of Hog Island, Essequibo River had since been charged and appeared before Magistrate Fazil Azeez. He admitted to driving without a licence or insurance and driving in a dangerous manner. He was fined a total of $90,000 with an alternative of 15 months imprisonment.
Hanif said he had expected police to charge Randolph for damaging the property but when he approached them about this he was informed that they could do nothing and he would have to take “private action”.
“I keep running to the police,” Hanif said. “But they tell me they can’t do anything about my problem and that I would have to seek private action.” Commander of ‘D’ Division, Paulette Morrison, when contacted about this said that “police had not explored” the possibility of charging Randolph for the damage cause to the Ruby home during the accident. After consulting the traffic police in charge of the case Morrison explained that the driver’s insurance would have to cover the cost. However Randolph is not insured.
Hanif’s reputed wife Bibi Shazeeda Karim said that she was tired of moving from house to house with her three children and husband. The woman said they are currently staying with some relatives who have four children of their own.
“Only today I was asking him [Hanif] how long more we’re going to move among our relatives’ homes… they are going to get tired of us eventually,” Karim said. “My husband is a carpenter and right now he isn’t working and we really don’t know what to do.”
Karim had reported that they were asleep in the upper flat of their home when they were awakened by “a loud noise” on May 2. Three posts made of concrete blocks, which supported the front of the upper flat wooden home, were completely torn away when the vehicles skidded “right through them.” Karim had expressed disbelief when told by her husband that two cars were under their house. “Two cars under the house, that is what my husband said to me after we were awakened by a loud noise,” Karim said Sunday afternoon. “At first I couldn’t believe him…I mean how could two cars end up under our house?”
