Oblivious to the sad reality that they are homeless, three-year-old twin sisters Waynesha and Wayneka Hosten were contented as they sat on their grandmother’s lap yesterday drinking their bottles given to them by a neighbour.
They were among nine children and six adults who were left homeless after three houses were burnt down during a fire at at Cipero Road, Ste Madeleine on Thursday.
Irene Valentine, 63, who lives next door suffered burns after the fire damaged the front of her house.
Sitting on the steps of a neighbour’s house looking at the rubble where their homes once stood, the twin’s grandmother Donna Coombs-Smith said they spent the night by different relatives.
She said they have to depend on friends , relatives and neighbours for food, clothes and shelter. “It is not nice what we going through. A neighbour give us two bottles and give us some milk and that is how they are drinking some tea. We hot it in the neighbour microwave.”
Coombs-Smith said although they live within the constituency of San Fernando East, they are yet to hear or see their MP Housing Minister Randall Mitchell.
“I dip my finger and made sure my family and children dip their finger so he could get that position. Where are you? Look at my plight. We need him to come. We need his help,” she lamented. The cause of the fire which started around midday on Thursday has not yet been determined by the fire officers.
Coombs-Smith was in her kitchen with her friend Martha Sheppard when they smelt something burning. They realised that smoke was coming from the back section of the house where the twins lived with their mother Tamika Charles, three sisters ages 13, 12, 10, and 17-year-old brother.
The fire quickly spread to the two other houses where Charles’ sons Russell Grant, 20, and Jamile Cooper, 21, lived with their families. Cooper’s two month old daughter and common-law wife were alone home, but managed to get out safely.
Grant was by a neighbour when he saw the fire and ran into the house to help his family. He jumped through a window with his one-week-old daughter, his common-law wife threw their three-year-old son for him to catch before she jumped out..
When contacted Mitchell said employees from his office went out on the field yesterday morning trying to locate the families. He said they were in contact with one of the victims. “We will be assisting the families as best as possible,” he assured.
Mitchell said he also intends to visit the victims.
