Self-Help gives $355,000 relief for Arouca floods

SOME 23 residents of areas like Arouca and Five Rivers got relief totalling $355,000 from the National Commission for Self-Help after last month’s floods. Purchase orders were distributed at a function on Wednesday at Bon Air West Community Centre in Arouca. Recipients included Parry’s Pan School, which is seeking a new facility to accommodate it.

Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe said last year the commission had given $18 million in grants to benefit 1,000 families.

She urged recipients to use the grants for their intended purposes.

Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales, who is also local MP for Lopinot/Bon Air West, told Newsday the grants were to be used for flood relief by way of helping fix damaged homes, but not for replacing ruined appliances. He said one of his main aims was to build stronger communities, although saying no MP can do it alone.

He told Newsday he had done a walkabout of the area after the floods, with public servants who had begun to assess the damage they found in various homes, which had now come to fruition.

Commission senior project officer Bobby Yacub told recipients that while applications to the commission may seem to take a long time to be processed, in fact, commission staff and officials were always working hard for the general public.

“My phone rings at 3 am and 4 am,” he revealed of the commission’s workings.

The event was also addressed by commission chairman Anthony Campbell, CEO Elroy Julien and corporate communications officer Kerri-Ann Joseph.