Camp Street fire ... Victims say Police seem reluctant to investigate arson claims

Camp Street fire … Victims say Police seem reluctant to investigate arson claims

Jul 15, 2013 News

– “There is no justice for people without money.”

Vanessa Collymore, her daughter and four month-old grandchild on a mattress on the ground.

It has been more than a week since a suspicious fire destroyed two Camp Street homes, and the affected persons say the police seem reluctant to follow claims that the fire might be the work of arsonist(s).
According to Vanessa Collymore, she has given a statement to the police but they do not seem to be taking her claims seriously that it might have been an arsonist who set the fire.
The woman, who was lying on two pieces of “sponge” when Kaieteur News visited the scene yesterday, said she was at her wits end. Present with her was her 24 year old daughter Amanda and four month old grandson.
“It’s hard watching everything you own just go up in flames…..very hard. I don’t know my next turn,” Collymore told Kaieteur News.
The woman told Kaieteur News that during the day she, her children and grandchildren would be underneath a third home, which was slightly damaged by the fire and by night they would go into the building to sleep.
“That’s where we have sleep…we don’t have nowhere else to go,” Collymore said.
“It’s just like a mystery, our house just burn down…nobody ain’t care. There is no justice for people without money,” Collymore cried.
The woman went on to say that although they have received help from persons, much more is needed for the family to begin to rebuild their lives.
Collymore claimed that she owns the plot of land where the recent fire took place.
She had told Kaieteur News that her brother, who previously owned another portion of the area, might have had an agreement with a Water Street businessman whose associates had visited them last December, claiming that the entire lot was owned by the businessman and that they should remove from the premises.
The woman said that she hired a lawyer to look into the matter and to have it resolved “once and for all”. She added that although most of her personal documents were destroyed in the blaze, she still has the documents for the property.
Almost 10 days ago, 17 persons, among them eight children, were left homeless following a suspicious fire which ripped through two wooden houses and scorched another on Camp Street. The parking lot which is next to the homes was the scene of another fire a few years ago and the victims were the same owners of the properties that went up in flames this time around. The Guyana Revenue Authority uses the parking lot.
An eyewitness to the last fire, Dillon Frazer, said that he was riding along the street, when he was startled by the sight of smoke billowing from both houses and a woman calling for help at the other house.
He added that a young woman and baby wrapped in a white cloth were rescued from the house while other persons, including a number of young children were also saved from the building which had already been engulfed in flames.
A woman who lived in the house where the fire started said that all she was able to save was a bag with some clothes and the attire she had on.
Efforts to contact officials from the Fire Service yesterday proved futile.