By Dionne Rose, Staff ReporterGOVERNMENT IS in the process of acquiring 45 acres of land at Harmony Hall in Clarendon to relocate some persons whose houses were destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in Portland Cottage, Clarendon.
Danville Walker, chief executive officer of the Office of National Reconstruction (ONR) made the announcement Wednesday while on a tour of the area.
Mr. Walker was responding to complaints made by residents who said their lives were at a "standstill", following the devastation of their homes by the hurricane. Residents also claimed that some 100 persons were still residing in shelters.
They also accused the Govern-ment of not doing enough to get them back on their feet. "They (the Government) declared here a disaster area and all now, no help. Why? It is like them is running politics about here," one resident said.
NO QUICK FIX
Another resident added: "All now nobody nuh say nothing; dem only a use word a mouth and word a mouth cannot help right now because we outa door. A under tree me live, my 10 pickney a people a kotch dem up fi mi, a people clothes me have on right now."
Mr. Walker was, however, quick to point out that the needs of the community were great so there was no quick fix to the problem. "The needs are not just two sheets of zinc or mattresses. The government is not an insurer of persons and we are moving quickly to assist those persons. It is because their needs are great (why it has taken so long)," he pointed out.
The ONR head said he sympathised with the residents whom he said, "are struggling and are having a period of inconvenience and hardship but we are doing the best that we can."
Mr. Walker said 250 persons would be relocated initially but it will be persons who are currently homeless. Some 10 acres of the land will be used for a community centre and other residential purposes.
The government, he said, would also be revising its initial decision to have communal bathrooms for these persons, arguing that "we do not support the idea of communal bathrooms. There are other options that we are considering," the ONR head told The Gleaner.
