Ramotar, Minister Ali offer immediate relief to victims
RELIEF efforts were already under way yesterday for the dozens of persons who were left destitute after their homes were destroyed by an early morning fire.
Hours after the inferno consumed several structures along Lombard and Broad Streets in Charlestown, Georgetown, People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) General Secretary and Presidential Candidate, Mr. Donald Ramotar and Minister of Housing and Water, Mr. Irfaan Ali visited the scene and interacted with those affected, offering their sympathy and support. The throng of victims converged around the two, who attempted to reassure those left homeless that everything was being done to mitigate their losses.
Ramotar, also a Presidential Adviser, acknowledged that fires are always disastrous and he emphasised that the main aim is to relieve the homeless as soon as possible.
“The Ministry of Housing is already addressing this aspect of the relief efforts but the main goal, at this point, is to find shelter for them now and immediate assistance. We will, probably, have to talk to the Guyana Relief Council to see what they could do,” he said.
Ramotar also disclosed that the Ministry of Human Services will assist in whatever way it can.
He added: “We are appealing to the public, as well, to help these people who would have lost everything.”
While there, Minister Ali explained to the victims that those who had previously applied for house lots will be allocated and those who have not will be facilitated by having their applications fast-tracked, by a representative of the Ministry of Housing, who was on site to initiate the process.
“For those who have applied, your applications will have to be verified while, for the persons now applying, we will waive the application fee and the process will begin,” he announced to the intended beneficiaries.
Addressing concerns raised over the Housing Ministry’s response, Minister Ali emphasised that it is a proactive approach to the very unfortunate situation.
Proactive manner
“What you saw is not an indication that nothing was done before. It is an indication that the Government responds to situations in a very proactive manner. We have a situation where the system requires that people apply and we have been saying this all across the country, especially in areas like this which are susceptible to a lot of vulnerabilities. We have been encouraging people to apply,” he reiterated.
According to the minister, most of those who suffered losses in yesterday’s blaze have not yet applied for house lots and will now be initiating the procedure. He noted, too, that land will be made available shortly in Recht-Door Zee in Region Three  (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara) to accommodate this influx as well as to cater for persons who applied during the period 2008/2009.
Ali reminded that there is a system that needs to be followed, from the time of application to allocation and maintained that, in order to initiate the process, persons have to first apply to the Ministry of Housing.
He said: “Look at the fire in Kingston, we went out there on numerous occasions to advocate this but only at the time of the fire we had a rush of applications. Similarly, with squatting in Plastic City, in Region Three, we went house to house to encourage residents to apply and, when we were finished with the process, more than 90 per cent were offered lots and only about 60 per cent took the allocation letters offered.”
Despite the fact that they had suffered so much loss and were still in a state of confusion, the Charlestown residents expressed gratitude to the officials for their offer.
“I am very grateful for the support we are getting from the Ministry of Housing and the minister. They are saying that we will get land across the river but, at this point, we don’t care where, we are just glad that we will get someplace to go,” Tinesa Daniels declared.
She and her two children lost all of their belongings when their apartment in one of the buildings went up in flames. She and her family were lucky not to be at home when the fire ravaged the place.
The confused woman related that she received a telephone call around 07:00 hrs yesterday morning, informing her about the disaster.
She said: “I rushed down here because I was at a friend’s house. I only have the clothes on my back. Me and my children lost everything.”
Another former resident, Alian Jones, who also lost everything she owned, expressed gratitude, as well, to the officials for their interest.
She lamented that all the school clothes and things bought for our children were lost. “What we will do now that we have nothing. At least we are getting the chance to own a house lot. That is one good thing but we need some more help.”