Three years after a fire gutted a dilapidated building at High and Barrack streets, Kingston, those who called it home continue their lives at the site since they are unable to afford anywhere else.
Nine families, comprising about 30 adults and children, lost their homes in the 2011 fire, which scorched nearby buildings.
The families now live in shacks adjoining each other at the site and they share one make-shift bathroom and one toilet.
Patricia Cornette, who was living there at the time of the fire, told Stabroek News that she has secured a house lot but cannot afford to construct a house. “Nothing don’t happen like that. Everything takes time,” she said, adding “we still here because we have nowhere else to go.”
Cornette, who lives with her three-year-old son, explained that the shacks built on the land were constructed from materials donated by “a man from the East Coast.”
“We working and ends still ain’t meeting,” declared Dasia Amsterdam, a 38-year-old single mother, who resides there with her three children. She explained that financial constraints are the main reason that she has remained and added, “we would like to get some assistance to build we house.”
Samantha Harris, 33, a single mother of a 10-year-old daughter, said that life has also been tough for her. She said it is especially hard for her daughter, who is preparing to sit the National Grade Six Assessment next year. “We have no light and she does get a hard time to study,” Harris stated, adding that studying is humbugged when she cannot afford candles. Like the other single mothers who spoke to this newspaper, she said that she remained because “we ain’t got no choice, we ain’t in a position to go somewhere else proper.”
Like Cornette, Gloria Nedd said she too has acquired a plot of land and reiterated that financial constraints are to be blamed for her remaining there, three years after the fire. “I ain’t deh in the position to move right now,” she declared. According to the mother of one, the daily struggles of surviving consumes her mind.
Among the routines for residents, she said, is having to fetch water for daily use from a business place, a corner away from the compound they occupy. She said she wants to move into her own home but the reality of her present circumstance is eclipsing her dream.
Additionally, Tracy (only name given), told Stabroek News that she has not received a house lot as yet. She said the last time she checked the Ministry of Housing for an update on her application was two years ago. The mother of one, who lives with her husband and child, said that life has been periodically tough for her, describing it as “ups and downs.” She said that she will make a concerted effort to get her house lot and move on with her life.
