Omar Anderson, Gleaner Writer
THIEVES ON Wednesday night made off with $250,000 worth of building material belonging to charity organisation Food For the Poor, and which was intended for fire victims of James Street, central Kingston.
The goods were stolen from a trailer parked on James Street and has left Member of Parliament Victor Cummings in shock.
"I'm appealing to persons to return the goods," he told The Gleaner yesterday . "They virtually emptied the container Wednesday night and I'm so upset."
Mr. Cummings said the material was to be used to build houses for residents of James Street whose homes were razed in 2000.
Bradley Finzi-Smith, executive director of Food for the Poor, disclosed yesterday that 86 zinc sheets, window blades, louvre frames, locks, nails and doors were among the items stolen. He said that six of the zinc sheets have been returned.
"Over the past two weeks, we've built six of 14 houses and we've since moved the container with the remaining building material," he said.
Acting Deputy Superintendent of Police Michael Phipps, the crime officer for the Kingston Central Police Division, confirmed the theft yesterday.
"We went into the area today (yesterday) and recovered a number of items," he said. "Nobody was arrested but we are still investigating."
