The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter 

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

SOCIAL Services Minister Obie Wilchcombe expressed deep concern about shanty town residents affected by a fire on Monday, saying officials will provide the victims with food, clothing, and other necessities.

Mr Wilchcombe told The Tribune he and other officials visited the shanty town off Joe Farrington Road yesterday.

“They told me they lost everything,” he said. “So, we’re going to try to assist in terms of the clothing and everything else. But you know we’re rather lucky that the fire didn’t extend beyond the house. You see the proximity to the other houses, in fact, that house appeared to be a house onto a house. I’m deeply concerned about the conditions.”

Mr Wilchcombe said he would report the matter to the Shanty Town Task Force next week.

 “It’s a tragedy waiting to happen almost, so we have to look at that situation against the position that we have to move on these shanty towns,” he said. “We have to move to the government task force that’s working on them and I will report to the task force next week on the situation there. Because just to think if that fire had spread, the damage and the deaths that would have been a result.”

 When officials visited the shanty town yesterday, Mr Wilchcombe said he discovered seven children and two adults affected by the fire.

 “We saw some others gathering, but we were told that once they see officials come, many scatter and don’t want to be around,” he added.

 Asked what assistance the residents would receive, Mr Wilchcombe said: “Social Services will put packages together for them.”

 He said the packages would include food, clothing, and other essential items. He hoped they would be provided within 24 hours after officials completed their assessments.

 Asked if the residents would be put in shelters, he said: “Once they’ve completed their assessment, they’ll make that decision.”

 A mother of six on Wednesday told The Tribune that she sought refuge in an unfinished building to shelter her one-year-old baby and other children after the fire. The structure was among several dilapidated buildings flooded with water from the rain.