Broad Street fire victims receive house lots

Mar 17, 2019 News

Two weeks after a fire left more than a dozen homeless, the distressed residents were given a relief as the Central Housing and Planning Association distributed 20 house lots to some of the families of Broad and Lombard Streets, Charlestown, Georgetown.

A section of the residents at the event.

The event was held, yesterday, at Ketley Primary School. The beneficiaries were selected by way of a lottery to determine their lot numbers.
Excited residents filled the auditorium of the school early as they anxiously awaited the event to begin. Bright smiles were plastered to the faces of everyone. Some fidgeted in their seats as the long-awaited experience of becoming a homeowner had finally arrived.
When Minister within the Ministry of Communities, with the responsibility for Housing, Valerie Patterson-Yearwood arrived around 09:30hrs, the event began.
A member of the community, Phillip Chase, in a welcome to the event, stated, “We the members of this community were getting frustrated because it has been a lengthy period of waiting but, today we can finally say we are getting a piece of the pie.”
The lottery was done in two segments, the first half being the priority victims –persons who lost their home in the recent Broad Street fire. The next half was for persons with children 16-years-old and younger.
Family names other than the priority ones were pulled from a bag to gain their house lot numbers. They are to be allocated their house lots in Prospect, East Bank Demerara, while the remaining families will be allocated their house lots in Cummings Lodge, Georgetown.

Members of the head table at the event

Minister Patterson-Yearwood indicated that CH&PA will be partnering with Food for the Poor to have homes completed on the lots.
“There is a brighter future on the way so prepare for what is coming. Don’t sit down with your hands folded. Don’t be like Lot’s wife who looked back from where they came, look ahead.”
CH&PA and Food for the Poor is looking to complete the houses by June. The initiative will begin next month. Moreover, they were given the go ahead to start infrastructure works in Cummings Lodge for the other families.
Minister Patterson-Yearwood stated, “We were given the go ahead to start infrastructure at Cummings Lodge, therefore the other families that are not chosen today, please be patient and bear with us to have that in place for you.”
In the upcoming week, the new homeowners will meet with CH&PA where they will be sensitized about homeownership, learn about taxes, and take care of their gaps.
Two weeks ago, an early morning fire blazed through several homes at the corner of Lombard and Broad Streets, Georgetown. It left many homeless and nowhere to turn to. The compound is home to well over 200 persons.
Initial reports indicate that the fire was allegedly set by one Ian McCalman, a 30-year-old unemployed individual of the said compound.
He is said to be of unsound mind. A close relative confirmed that McCalman is mentally disturbed and was twice admitted as a patient of the Berbice Psychiatric Hospital.

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