No home yet for 13-year-old boxer and family

The Housing Development Corporation (HDC) has said it was not in a position yet to decide whether the Wolfe family would be getting a home.

The family's one-room shack in Claxton Bay was demolished on Sunday after the Commissioner of State Lands ordered the structure removed.

The family had been squatting in the shack on the Southern Main Road in Claxton Bay for the last ten years.

They have since returned to living with relatives at Sookoo Trace, a short distance away.

Christopher Wolfe, father of 13-year-old national junior boxer Shirley Wolfe, said he was more concerned about the boxing gym he had started to build on the land.

He said, “HDC did a site visit, but we have not heard from them since, except that the application was being looked at.

"We are living with my sister.

“We were really building a boxing gym for the children and with this situation, it all comes to an end now. I not really studying the house, the most important thing is the gym which will now be broken down. My daughter has nowhere to train right now, and the hope for the children has just died.”

On Tuesday, HDC corporate communications manager Dike Noel confirmed that a site visit was done and an evaluation and investigation were under way.

He said, “The HDC is aware of the Wolfe family’s situation. On November 4, a team from the HDC’s Social and Community Services Department contacted Wolfe and conducted an assessment interview. A house visit was made the following day, after which a report was prepared.

“The HDC wishes to advise that applications for special consideration for housing are conducted on a case-by-case basis. It is to be noted that with respect to this specific type of allocation, not everyone who is assessed can be immediately allocated and that is due in part to the limited availability of houses.”

Noel said people in such situations were told to approach the Social Welfare Department of the Ministry of Social Development and Family Services. He said the roles of that ministry should allow people to receive more immediate assistance that is often better suited to their specific needs from the suite of grants and services available.

MP for the area David Lee said the problem is not the gym, but the way Wolfe intended to carry out his activity.

He said, “The gym is a good venture, but he has to do it legally and work with the proper authorities such as the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), the Commissioner of State Lands and the Ministry of Sport, where necessary. The way he is going about the gym is wrong.

“There is only so much I can do from the Opposition. Letters were sent on his behalf to the HDC a year ago for a home. It is beyond my control, and it was up to the government of the day to investigate the matter and make a determination. I cannot give him a house.”

Lee said the community was pleased with the idea of a boxing gym but noted that there was already one in the community.

He suggested that Wolfe partner with the gym at Battoo Trace or try to get the Ministry of Sports and other investors to buy into his idea.

“Wolfe has been backfilling the area in which he was squatting, causing environmental concerns and hampering the ecosystem. This was and continued to be a cause of concern for the residents.”

Sports Minister Shamfa Cudjoe could not be contacted for comment on any possible intervention by her ministry.