Sangre Grande flood victims get grants

ABOUT 200 flood-affected residents of Sangre Grande saw a little silver lining of hope yesterday when they received their grants from the Social Development Ministry. The grants were distributed at the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation (SGRC).

It has been almost three weeks since residents of the town and its environs experienced one of the worst floods in about 50 years. This saw many people lose most of their belongings, including furniture, appliances and clothes.

Residents began lining up outside the corporation from 8 am. Pregnant women, parents with toddlers and the elderly braved the scorching sun as they waited until just before 11 am for the cheques to arrive.

Their sole reprieve from the heat and long wait was a tent provided by SGRC chairman Martin Terry Rondon, who also supplied water and soft drinks.

The amount of the cheques differed for each resident, depending on their losses.

Sheldon Lewis, 45, who lives at Adventist Street, Ebonite Drive with his wife and daughter, said he lost everything.

“To be honest, I never really got any assistance from anybody. This is the second time I got flooded out, but this is worse. Right now I really don’t know what to do, because what they are offering can’t buy back everything I lost.

“It is really hard now, because my wife and I are estate police officers, and you know what our salaries are like. But we have to move on. At my age it is difficult to have to start over.”

Randy Rudal, who lives with his wife and two-year-old and one-year-old babies at Co-operative Street, complained that the corporation and Government were “giving who they want.

“The only thing I get from them was a small bag with bread and some milk.”

He said his sister Anisha Mohammed, also awaiting a cheque, was helping him provide for his family.

“I get personal help from friends and people who gave me donations, so when I get I would help him out. Everybody just trying to help each other,” she said. Rudal said he was unable to work, as he was a welder and joiner and all his tools were destroyed.

Single mother Kimlyn Farrell depends on welfare and the generosity of good Samaritans to take care of her three children – the youngest an 11-month-old boy. She said the baby’s father left her when he was born.

The people waiting crowded against the closed gate, pushing against each other, which led to a call for pregnant women and elderly people to be allowed inside. The residents’ names were called and they were required to present their national ID cards before they signed for the cheques.

One woman, who did not want to give her name, accused the accounts department at the ministry of playing games. She said every week she got a phone call asking her to verify her name as a recipient, but she had not been called to collect a cheque

But Rondon said he knew for a fact that she had not suffered any losses, but kept demanding compensation.