The Bridgemohan family of Sahadath Road, Princes Town is stuck in a nightmare that seems to have no end.
Within the space of 14 months, they have lost two homes owing to a landslide, and while they are not homeless they desperately need a place to call home.
“Having lost it twice in a year, it very hard. It’s very difficult because my kids, one writing CXC, one is writing SEA and my daughter has end of term test for December and it is very difficult. We have to use the internet because it’s online class. It very, very difficult knowing that we had something and knowing that it just simply just disappear, just gone within seconds. I can’t explain how I am feeling right now. It’s just tragic,” lamented Meera Bridgemohan.
Bridgemohan, a housewife, and her husband Taradath, a corporal in the T&T Regiment, used their life savings to build a comfortable home for their three children ages, 17, 13, and six.
But their happiness began chipping away when the road in front of their home began to cave, and despite their complaints to the authorities to date, it has not been repaired.
One day last August their worst fears came through when their two-storey four-bedroom home began crumbling.
About a week later, her brother-in-law allowed them to move into his house next door, but tragedy struck again.
Bridgemohan said, “Since last year I’ve been experiencing a lot of trouble. I lost my house where we saved nearly we entire life building, it crumbled. Last year the August 21 it went down. We got a temporary place to stay next door and Saturday from 5 o clock until about 11 it just fell down on us.”
She explained that the tank stand collapsed a couple of weeks ago, then following heavy rains on Saturday they heard noises in the house but did not pay attention to them. When her husband got up for work later that morning, he saw a large crack in the house and warned them that the house was going to fall.
“We lucky nobody wasn’t injured because we was home trying to get everything out and from the time we trying to move things out, the concrete and thing started to fall. We lucky we didn’t get injured,” she said.
While have sought temporarily lodging at her mother in law’s home, Bridgemohan said the conditions are cramped.
While they applied to the National Commission for Self Help for a grant, she says they are still waiting for a response and they have not heard from any other state agencies or ministries.
Bridgemohan lamented, “Right now I really need a house badly. We need a house to stay in right now because the house I’m staying with my in-law they don’t have space for us because it’s a big family...They have their own parents there so right now we really need somewhere to go We don’t have no place to go We need the space. We need the children to be right through in class with interruptions right now we really need a house to go to.”
She said her brother-in-law is also staying with his mother.
Meanwhile, Moruga/Tableland MP Michelle Benjamin says wrote to the ministers of Housing, Works and Trasport and Rural Development and Local Government last October but she had received no response.
“So I am pleading on behalf of Mr Bridgemohan and his wife his family his kids that her relevant authorities hear their cries and address their situation they need a home,” said Benjamin.
She said there has been no assessment to determine the cause of the landslip, but Sahadath Road is a local road, and the minister has been informed but to date, there has been no site visit.
Anyone willing to assist the family could contact 328-4490.