Demolition of the dilapidated three-storey wooden structures in Waterloo Street’s notorious ‘Globe Yard’ began yesterday but the over 50 persons who live there lamented that they are now homeless.
Although they acknowledged that their matter was personal, the occupants of the four buildings located at Lot 135 Waterloo Street, Georgetown are calling on government to intervene so that they can be expeditiously given lands to build on.
“Dexter (a relative) called last night and say ‘Donna deh coming tomorrow’ to bruk down so ah de know but I don’t have anywhere to go,” 56-year-old Donna Allen told Stabroek News yesterday. “I have nowhere to go but if I get a piece of land tomorrow, I will tek um right away and build a lil thing and so on…government should see how they can help us out please,” she pleaded.
Allen is the mother of five children whose grandfather owned the front property. She and her husband, who is the son of the owner lived for over fifteen years at the location before he died eight years ago. She said that she has no documents to substantiate a claim to the property as all the paperwork is held by her nephew-in law but the land is “family property…everything belong to Allens.”
The woman recounted that in 2008, the City Council had written them about the decrepit state of the building and the safety hazards it posed and gave notice that it was listed to be demolished. She said that the council worked in tandem with the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CHPA) and visited the location and spoke to the various families who lived there at the time.
Further, she said, names of persons interested in obtaining land from the CHPA were recorded and they followed up with visits to the housing authority at its Brickdam office to discuss where they would be given the lands and how soon.
However, the plan to give lands to the households never materialized because she said the CHPA kept “pushing” them around and shortly after, she took ill remaining in a state where she could not do much for herself until early this year.
Yesterday morning, Allen recounted, she was home when her daughter called out to her that the City Council’s demolition crew had arrived and were getting ready to “tear de place down.”
She recalled that an employee of the City Council would visit and tell her of the pending demolition. “He say they doing Kingston, then Campbellville somewhere then they gon come here so I did know deh coming,” she said.
When Stabroek News arrived at the property, the City Council’s crew had already begun working on the third floor of the first three-storeyed building. Occupants of the other three structures in the yard were busy packing their belongings.
Pele Club football player Leon Roberts vented his frustration saying that the City Council should have at least informed them on Monday or Tuesday that they would return yesterday to commence works. “Remember right, that we is poor people and we ain’t get nowhere to go. Now we get the paper fuh get me land and thing they come and write down we names and say they gon gi we land but we ain’t get a thing yet,” he stressed.
Roberts said he believed that with the David Granger administration taking office in May of this year, work at the CHPA would have quickened and processing of applications and distribution of lands would have started by now.
“We vote for a change and this is a change? Well, I won’t be voting again. Me sister get five and she sister get three, that’s eight child in the back house alone. We get family that get house and so yeah but they ain’t gon tek all ah we in deh place look is how much ah we,” he added.
A relative of one of the occupants explained that the property has been in dispute for many years as the owner of the house, a Mr Allen, died, only stipulating that the Waterloo Street property and another on Croal Street be divided between his many grandchildren. She said for many years, all the grandchildren have lived with their respective families in the four structures in the yard. According to the relative, one grandchild of Allen named Dexter has the transport for the property.
Yesterday, children who lived in the yard stayed away from school to help their parents with packing. Some of them looked distraught as their parents loudly questioned where they would sleep last night and how their lives will be affected.
The ‘Globe Yard’ got its name because of its location near to the then popular Globe cinema. The four large wooden structures were built sometime in the late 1940s but seemed to never have been maintained adequately leading to its shoddy and potentially hazardous state. It gained notoriety as it gave solace to many shady characters known to law enforcement.
“How it get de name? Wuh a gon tell yuh…because Globe Cinema de deh right next door deh but people come fuh frighten to pass hay because it had plenty bad man and oman, thief man, coke man, weed man, all kinda people iya used to live deh,” a resident stated.
