– as they begin to rebuild burnt ‘butcher shop’

MORAL and material support have been pouring in for the Azeez family who lost their ‘butcher shop’ at Bush Lot Village, West Coast Berbice last Friday due to alleged arson. It is believed that the arsonists were politically motivated.

Sunday morning, volunteers showed up at the site and started to help clear the debris.
Director of Sport and the leader of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) Campaign Manager for Region Five, Christopher Jones, was among those assisting in removing the debris and soliciting materials for the butcher shop to be rebuilt.

“The Azeez family members are members of the People’s National Congress and supporters of the APNU+AFC coalition. The coalition is committed to giving them the fullest possible moral and financial support to ensure that they get back their businessplace and get back into business as quickly as possible. We want to show that love will always conquer evil,” Jones told this newspaper.

Jones confirmed that aside from support from the coalition, there has been an outpouring of support from like-minded Guyanese, both locally and abroad.
“Those overseas have sent money for the family through Western Union and others locally have sent cash and kind– kind in terms of materials such as cement, sand and stone for the reconstruction,” he explained.

According to Jones, the family is open to additional support. Interested persons can contact him or former Member of Parliament Jennifer Wade, who resides in Region Five.
He said that the APNU+AFC coalition is hoping to rebuild the butcher shop within a period of two weeks.

The coalition, he said, is also aware that the Azeez family does not own the land on which the butcher shop was originally built, and had applied formally for ownership some years ago. According to him, the coalition would assist them as much as possible in their quest for legal ownership of the small plot of land.

Meanwhile, Jamal Azeez, husband of Latchmin Azeez, Sunday morning expressed complete satisfaction with the support received.
“This APNU+AFC support people in each and every corner of this country. I love this APNU+AFC government,” he said.