Rasbert Turner, Gleaner Writer

Two-month-old Demar Nelson (foreground) rests on a mattress with his elder brothers (from left) Oshane, Odane and Namar. The boys live in a shack put up by their mother Nadine Brown, after their house had been destroyed on December 1. The family is without proper shelter. The houses were destroyed by the Bodles Estate in St. Catherine, which had served an eviction notice to the squatters prior to the act. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Spanish Town, St. Catherine:

The Nelson family in Bodles, St. Catherine, whose houses were vandalised on December 1 after they were given notice to relocate from a property on which they were squatting, are set to relocate.

The Gleaner visited the area for the second time and found 19 persons occupying one room. These persons said they have been forced to live that way after their frail board house was destroyed by agents of the property owner.

In the new living arrangement, they said that persons have been forced to take turns sleeping. They expressed particular concern that the health of the children among their numbers might be at risk since the outbreak of malaria in Kingston and St. Catherine.

The children, residents told The Gleaner, did not attend school last week and have since been on a diet of cane from a nearby field.