Fire victims from the San Fernando East constituency unleashed their fury on Minister of the People Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh when he visited them yesterday morning to offer some measure of relief. Ramadharsingh arrived with hampers of non-perishable goods and sanitary products, as well as vouchers for pizza and a list of the financial grants the victims would be able to access from his ministry.
He also presented most of the women with red roses in celebration of Valentine Day. However, the residents, while grateful for those services, said their priority was relocation and they vowed to "step up protest and burn tyres" if they were not relocated by the end of the week.
Complaints came from 33 of the victims, including 71-year-old Christiana Joseph, housed at the Pleasantville Community Centre. "All you treating us like some dogs, if it was one of all you constituency everybody done relocated. The whole government would have been here. Why all you treating us like that?" Samuel Scarborough asked Ramadharsingh. He added: "Don't just stand up there and scratch your ears," Scarborough continued, "we are citizens of this country. He asked: "From Saturday this fire take place, today is Monday. These ministers supposed to be here. Where is the Minister of Housing, where is Jerrilyn John (meaning HDC CEO Jerlean John)?
"In other areas, as soon as something happen, I don't know who tell them but if they have to take a helicopter to reach, they reach." Police officers, who accompanied the entourage, which included San Fernando mayor Marlene Coudray and councillor for the area, Robert Parris, looked on as other affected residents accused Ramadharsingh and his People's Partnership Government of "disrespect." Karen Burrows-Small shouted: "We want somewhere to live and we want it today. This is the most inhumane condition we living under." Burrows-Small said she had been living in an apartment at Building 17, along Balisier Avenue, Pleasantville, for 11 years.
"And it has been complaints for 11 years, broken pipes, leaking roofs, faulty electrical system, broken railings, no lights in the corridor, pigeon droppings wreaking havoc on your skin. We want somewhere to live and we want it today," she demanded. Asked if they had ever brought the issues to the attention of their Member of Parliament, former prime minister Patrick Manning, Burrows-Small responded: "This happen under this regime." She said Manning and Parris were with them lending support since the fire destroyed part of the apartment building on Saturday morning. A traumatised Hailey Richardson, in whose apartment the fire started, when masked men threw a molotov cocktail, collapsed at the community centre and had to be treated by Red Cross personnel.
"Why all you doing this to me?" Richardson, an asthma patient, cried. Ramadharsingh, who toured the 41-year-old dilapidated building, said he was appalled by the conditions under which people were living, especially senior citizens. Describing their situation as "painful", Ramadharsingh said he would use all the resources of his ministry to assist those affected. However, he said he was not in a position to offer them relocation or housing. The minister, who was accompanied by representatives of Social Welfare, the Food Card Department and Family Services, said families could access up to $6,000 for replacement of lost appliances, $1,000 clothing allowance, $1,000 for secondary students who lost their school supplies, plus $750 for primary school students.
The Housing Development Corporation said it would send a team to assess and review each situation on a case-by- case basis. Ramadharsingh said Jerlean John said there was a shortage of houses to accommodate all of the victims but alternatives were being looked at to provide some temporary measures. A woman, named Marissa, noted: "This whole building is a hazard. Before the fire it was bad and now it worse."