QUAMINA Street residents who were displaced by a mid-afternoon fire that gutted their residences on July 6 are desperately appealing to the general public for assistance of whatever kind they can give.

This publication revisited the fire scene yesterday, and was informed by the victims that life since the fire has been extremely “rough and tough”.
Some of them were seen clearing the debris left after the fire in an ongoing exercise that is proceeding at a very slow pace, it was explained. The columns which had supported the former wooden top-flat building were still standing, with some layers of blocks around the foundation, and this has been used to create a lower flat.
The residents were making provision to begin rebuilding their homes piece by piece; but an issue bothering them is access to finance and other critical materials and resources to make the rebuilding process happen.
Everything in the destroyed homes was lost, including source documents and transports, according to an elderly man.
The displaced persons are now all clustered into a very crooked house situated behind one of the destroyed buildings. The new place of abode, which was also badly scorched by the fire, appears to be everything but safe for those who dwell inside. It has no window curtain, and sports a badly scorched veranda and some shattered windows. The occupants, numbering approximately 17, including two toddlers, are also living without electricity, and reportedly are forced to relieve their bowels at neighbours’ homes, since theirs is without that facility. There is also no bathing facility; that, too, is facilitated by their neighbours.
Of the 17 persons cramped in that location, 12 are reportedly working, while the others are attending school.
Asked to itemize some of their pressing needs, they responded that clothing, food and household items, including kitchen utensils, and finance are foremost necessities. There is also need to retrieve source documents destroyed by the fire, so that they can transact legitimate business with banks and other agencies.
Yesterday, whilst this publication was present, a man showed up to assist the displaced group with a loaf of bread. The young lady who collected the bread explained that, from time to time, people would come to offer them hot meals, or items needed to prepare meals.
One lot away from the fire scene, where a house had been severely scorched by that devastating blaze, rehabilitative works were moving apace, but would soon be halted by a lack of finance. Speaking with this newspaper from her crooked veranda, the homeowner explained that she had managed to redo the western wall of her home, which had suffered the worst of the damage; and had also redone the entire roof of her home at very substantial cost, and now the funds have dwindled. The woman did not give her name, but said that what she needed to do next was to rewire her home, install a new meter and fix her shattered windows.
Of the listed things that needed to be done, the woman explained, she would be able only to facilitate the rewiring of the house, while the fixing of windows and other aspects of the house will have to wait until next year.
The interior of the home seemed a bit okay, but walking on the flooring gives one a feeling of stepping on brittle boards, which could send the walker crashing through the flooring and onto the ground. A tarpaulin had been strung up in the home to prevent saturation by rainwater coming from broached sections of the roof, while a lone small coffee table and a few other items represented the only furnishings in the home.
On July 6, there was a desperate effort to save this house as the other two buildings were already being consumed by fire. The Guyana Fire Service has determined that the fire that displaced the persons and caused the complete destruction of two homes and damage to two others was the work of arsonist(s).