When lightning strikes twice

WHEN IT comes to tragedy, lightning has seemingly struck the Trou Macaque, Laventille, community twice.

Twelve years after a Housing Development Corporation (HDC) building there was gutted by a fire in which four people, including a ten-month-old baby, died, strong winds on Tuesday blew off the roof of an adjoining HDC property, putting at least 16 families at risk and subjecting all their possessions to destruction.

But though separated by more than a decade, the same questions in relation to the HDC arise from both events.

The fire was attributed to arson and an individual was charged. However, justice has never been served. The individual died by suicide in 2016 while on remand.

Meanwhile, the questions that arose back in 2011 relating to infrastructure standards, safety codes, fire escapes, systems and procedures linger.

“The HDC is responsible for thousands of units of state-provided accommodations since 1961,” observed Laventille West MP Fitzgerald Hinds at a site visit on Tuesday. “Buildings get older, just like human beings. They deteriorate, they need management, they need repairs.”

This is precisely why the HDC should be well versed by now in maintenance. As it did in 2011, the corporation has a duty to ensure it is populating habitable structures, including buildings capable of withstanding tropical weather of all intensities.

Not only does the history of the community involved make the scenes of destruction that occurred this week particularly upsetting, but it is disappointing to learn of the many reports of residents complaining to the HDC about the very premises that have now been damaged.

Some of those affected say they complained about the roof in the past. If maintenance work was done as a result, it was seemingly piecemeal, with new planks nailed to old rafters.

“They changed this ceiling already, but like it was a waste of time,” said one of these residents, standing beneath the evidence: the dark grey sky above her unsheltered head.

Meanwhile, the decision to tap the contractor hired to rebuild the burnt-out premises nearby for repair work in the wind-damaged structure might reflect more than just convenience.

While such a job should be subject to sound procurement practices, the reality is the need to have a company do the work urgently in an area often stigmatised as crime-plagued may well be overwhelming.

Government has moved forward with its plan to split the HDC into three companies, including one that is meant to oversee maintenance. The question is: will this arrangement make Tuesday’s developments a thing of the past or will it simply add to the evident inefficiencies?

Residents should not have to wait for the next rainstorm to find out the answer.