The families who were left homeless after their home in the East La Penitence Housing Compound partially collapsed are hoping to build temporary shelters in the compound which will house them until they receive the land they were recently promised by the Ministry of Communities.
Last Thursday, two buildings in the compound collapsed leaving several families homeless. With nowhere to go, the families have been sleeping on the ground near one of the collapsed buildings which has been their home for 23 years.
According to Felicia Nixon, a resident of the compound, an official from the Ministry of Communities visited the compound sometime after the building had collapsed. She said the official promised them that some of the families would get house lots and told them to start the process for acquiring land.
Nixon further disclosed that on Monday an official from the Central Housing & Planning Authority visited the area to collect a list of the names of the families who lived in the building. She said the official told them that nothing can be done about the collapsed building but they can visit the CH&PA to begin their next step in acquiring the land.
Regardless, Nixon said, she along with other families are hoping to build temporary shelters because they are fed-up with sleeping in the yard. Nixon disclosed that she and her three children are still sleeping on the floor in the yard since the building collapsed on Thursday. She added that she is getting worried about her children because one of them is already getting sick.
She said on Monday she set up some galvanized sheeting which she hopes will protect her and her children during the nights.
Meanwhile a number of families are currently being housed at friends and they are hoping to begin building temporary shelters which will house them until they get their house lots. However, one of the occupants has reportedly moved back into the collapsed house and refuses to move out to allow the other families to begin dismantling it.
Rhonda Nedd said “we can reuse the material from the house like the zincs but the lady ain’t want to move out. Everybody in this yard willing to help build temporary shelters for the families in here but we need the materials from the building.” She added that they still have to go through the process to acquire land and they still have to wait a while before they can get it. In the meantime, she said, she is hoping to earn money to pay for the house lot but due to the delay caused by the unnamed resident who moved back into the house, she is unable to do so.
