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Derelict building causes Kingston resident to vacate home
Andy Atkinson, of 30, Fort Street, Kingston, has been transformed from successful businessman to a virtual refugee from his own home.
This is because of the presence of a derelict building which he fears may collapse on his property at any moment.
According to the 35-year-old, the building has been unoccupied for some years now, and despite repeated complaints to and promises from city council officials, the structure at 29 Fort Street, has not been dismantled.
The shell of a house that is threatening 30 Fort Street, Kingston.
“After lunch (on Friday) my wife called and told me that she felt the house shaking and that she heard a sound. When she came downstairs, she found that a column supporting the derelict building had slipped out completely and was braced against the fence.”
Atkinson, who has a four-year-old son and a nephew staying with him, pointed out that the back of the old structure, was leaning almost onto the children’s bedroom.
“It’s a situation whereby we cannot spend the night here; we have to find somewhere else to sleep,” the distraught man said.
“There were some people that used to live here a few years ago. A homeless person used to be downstairs but they moved out three years ago,” he said.
“Reports were made to the city council by the property management company that handles the house that I rent here. My mother-in-law made numerous reports, over the last three to four years,” Atkinson told Kaieteur News.
He said that the last report would have been made a little over a month ago. He stated that a city engineer came and took pictures of the leaning building before telling the family that a file would have to be prepared, and that he would have to wait for two months before a recommendation could be made to tear the building down.
“Two months ago the Mayor himself was in the area in a community meeting and I brought the matter directly to him. He made a note and promised to send someone across. He never did and so we had to go and make the report again,” he said.
He noted that when the engineer first visited, one of the columns was on the verge of touching the fence.
He also observed that live wires were running from the building.
“But a lot of people that pass here would tell me that I need to do something or go to City Hall,” the worried man related.
He is calling on the relevant authorities to intervene in a timely manner, as lives and property are on the line.
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