Trinis show their giving side to Couva victims

RUNA ALI, the mother of three whose home was firebombed on Christmas Eve – said after Newsday’s article on her plight, her phone has been ringing non-stop.

On Thursday, 40-year-old Ali told Newsday she, her daughter Alexandra Kissoon and her son Kyle Kissoon had for the past seven years, received threats that their McBean Village home would be destroyed. That threat came to pass on Thursday. Ali is also the mother of the late Brandon Kissoon, a Couva fisherman thrown overboard by pirates in the Gulf of Paria last year.

It is the second time their home has been firebombed as it was also done exactly one year ago while she and her daughter were at home. Last year, the damage was not as bad as she was able to put out the fire immediately. But this time around, Ali lost everything as she was not at home when the fire started.

She was staying with a relative and received a call around 1 am alerting her of the fire. The shell of the house remains, but everything inside has been completely destroyed.

On Thursday, Ali told Newsday she would not be having a merry Christmas but this seemed to have changed with the help of some good Samaritans.

She told Newsday, “A lot of people have been contacting me. Some are offering us a place to stay, others are willing to help me clean back the home and fix it back up, people came and brought groceries, clothes…” She thanked everyone who called with offers of help.

Ali said she has been making reports to the Couva Police Station for years but to no avail. She is hoping that now that her home was destroyed, the police will realise there is need to arrest the perpetrator.

She believes the person behind the arson act is a male relative of her children who has been doing “these wicked things” over an ongoing land dispute.

“To know that strangers are actually helping after it’s your own who is trying to destroy you...it’s just amazing. My phone has been ringing non-stop with people trying to help me.”