DEVASTATED PORTLAND Cottage residents in South East Clarendon have been promised new houses through Food for the Poor. The promise came Tuesday from Prime Minister P.J. Patterson who toured the community.
While deliberately not stating the number of houses, the Prime Minister said they would only be given to person whose houses were destroyed in the hurricane. He also warned against rebuilding on captured land, noting that the Government would also be distributing land to needy persons.
"I wish to say not only the Government but the entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with you," Mr. Patterson assured the throng of battered residents who swarmed Portland Cottage Primary School.
Labour and Social Security Minister Horace Dalley, Land and Environment Minister Dean Peart, and South East Clarendon Member of Parliament Ruddy Spencer accompanied the Prime Minister.
Last Friday, eight persons, including three children, drowned in the community after a tidal surge caused water from the nearby sea to flood a number of houses.
CAUTION
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister cautioned them that rebuilding new houses at the same spots was not wise, considering the possibility of future hurricanes. Mr. Patterson disclosed that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security would open a registration centre at Portland Cottage Primary School, where needy residents can visit to have their names recorded to receive help.
The Prime Minister also divulged that persons in the community who were earlier disqualified from PATH benefits, would be given assistance, once their names were verified. "We have suffered but we are going to rise again," he said to applause from the joyful residents, many of whom said they hadn't bathe in several days, nor did they have water.
