Sixty-three-year-old fire victim Isaac Thompson of Greenwich Park, East Bank Essequibo, can now rest easy after receiving a brand new two-bedroom home, courtesy of Men on Mission, a Department of Public Information (DPI) release stated.
Thompson was presented with the keys to his new home by Minister within the Ministry of Public Works Deodat Indar in a handing-over a ceremony earlier this month. A grateful Thompson said that the new home has given him a renewed sense of purpose after a devastating fire left him and his family of five without a suitable dwelling place, the release said.
Reflecting on the dire state of affairs prior to the construction of the new home, Thompson told DPI that he and his family have been living in a makeshift home and sleeping on mattresses they would lay on the floor.
“I never expected to get a house like this. It was six of us sleeping in a 13 by 20, and we made ourselves comfortable. That was our hall, our kitchen, our bedroom, everything. From the 7th of June to today. I want to thank the Men on Mission and the government for doing this for us. I feel so good about this,” he was quoted as saying.
His eldest daughter, Monica Thompson, also expressed her appreciation for the new home.“The PPP/C government and the Men on Mission have given my father the opportunity to have a place he can call home again. I am very thankful for their help,” she was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, the release said, Indar congratulated Thompson and emphasised that the government is keen on ensuring that vulnerable groups get the necessary support.
“These houses that we hand over, they show the country that when we put the money in the budget to fund this programme it’s delivering to the vulnerable people in society – people who have lost hope. That is what the money is being spent on,” the minister was quoted as saying.
He also pointed out that aside from uplifting vulnerable Guyanese, the home-building aspect of the Men on Mission provides employment opportunities for local businesses, the release said.
“Some of the workers from this community, and Tuschen, would have helped with building the house. They would have bought nails from the hardware supplier; the concrete blocks would have come from a man making concrete right here. So, everything has a process where other people benefit from it,” the release quoted him as saying.
