Personnel from the Resilience and Reintegration Unit of the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs have started the search for housing to accommodate more than three dozen fire victims displaced as a result of Sunday’s fire at Wellington Street in The City.

In providing an update on Wednesday, City of Bridgetown MP Corey Lane said 30 adults, 10 children and one baby, are currently in government emergency accommodation at the Savannah Hotel and Golden Sands Hotel.

More than 50 persons lost their possessions as the blaze that occurred just after 10:30 p.m. impacted 16 houses. Six homes were destroyed, two partially damaged and the remainder were affected by smoke and soot.

“The Resilience and Reintegration unit of the Ministry of People Empowerment would have accommodated all persons that requested accommodation on the night. That number continues to increase because there are persons who thought they could stay inside with the smoke and then they realise the smoke was too much. So, they reached out and they’ve been accommodated,” Lane said.

City of Bridgetown MP Corey Lane.

He added that the government has ensured that the affected persons are comfortable and he assured they will not be relocated until suitable accommodations are found.

“They are being provided for at every level that you can imagine. From counselling, breakfast, lunch, dinner, everything is being provided at this point in time for them. As we speak, the Reintegration Unit [On] conducting site visits to see where we can find medium term housing for them to transition out of the emergency housing the government has provided,” the minister reported.

He praised the response of Barbadians and companies who have been reaching out to provide supplies to the affected persons.

“The first one to reach out was Simplex and, obviously, the Fund Raising Committee of the City of Bridgetown, the Barbados Labour Party branch, they kicked into gear to reach out to companies to ensure that we can get the donations in. The St Ambrose Church as well has come on board to help collect things. Jabez House, they are connected as well; Savvy on the Bay. So a number of companies, a number of individuals are reaching out and it’s really flowing in.

“One of the things that I like to remind people is that there is the short, medium and long term. My experience with the past five fires have really been that the short term is really easy. A lot of people give a lot of clothes and food which is needed, but there’s a lot of assistance that is needed in the medium and long term as well. I just want people to keep that in mind and continue to keep the families in prayer and for all Barbadians to rally and do what we can do in this desperate time of need,” Lane said.

The City MP disclosed that he is working with the Ministry of Housing to help reduce the densely populated nature of The City.

“For example, in Greenfield, as you will see, we have some transition houses opposite Alleyne’s Court and what we are in the process of doing is working with the Ministry of Housing to remove sections of Greenfield, put them in transitional housing, and rebuild the area in a more appropriate way for the 21st century. Then we move the people back in and then transition another set. So we’re actually going to have to set up multiple projects like that to be able to reduce all the densely populated areas, particularly in the City of Bridgetown,” he said. (SD)

Posti Dozens displaced by City fire promised gov’t support ilmestyi ensimmäisenä Barbados tänään.

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