Indian national among occupants affected by Cummings Lodge fire
Fire destroyed this Cummings Lodge apartment building on Friday night (Ravin Singh photo)
Fire destroyed this Cummings Lodge apartment building on Friday night (Ravin Singh photo)

– owner returns security deposits, January rent

AFTER the 30-room apartment building which housed about 40 students and other occupants went up in flames last Friday, January 13, several persons have been left homeless.Indian national, Sagar Patil, said that he has lost everything in this fire. He recounted that he has been in Guyana for four years now studying medicine at the Greenheart Medical University, located at Lot 139, 4th Street, Campbellville, and he had been staying in this apartment building for about three and a half years.

“When you travel to another country, you carry everything with you,” Patil noted, as he explained that he lost a number of household appliances, $200,000 worth in schoolbooks from India, his medical equipment and all his personal belongings.

In a state of helplessness, Patil and three other male occupants of the building who are now sharing another apartment visited the owners of the apartment building, Mr. and Mrs. Balgobin. The young men said their security deposits were returned to them, along with the rent paid for January.

When the Guyana Chronicle contacted the owner of the building, who was identified only as “Mr. Balgobin”, he assured that he will be returning the security deposits given to him initially and the rental payment for this month to all occupants of the building. “I have started to give back them [the occupants of the building] their money,” he said.

Balgobin said further, “I am just trying to be fair within the circumstances I am faced with. This is a difficult time for me as well.”

Occupants of the apartment building told the Guyana Chronicle of their concerns on the morning after the fire (Saturday, January 14) when the owner observed that his insurance had expired, creating anxiety over the likelihood of compensation for the occupants.

However, the owner did not disclose the status of the building’s insurance to the Guyana Chronicle.

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