Dengue concerns for Sangre Grande senior citizens home

Rita Charles, explained that the house, which had been abandoned for several years, was barely recognisable from the road since most of the property was covered with grass.

“No one has lived in that building for years now. The people who were in it seem to be going through some hard times. They stopped paying their mortgage and just left the house. Since then it has been repossessed by the HDC. But it seems like no one wants it, because no one is maintaining the land at all,” Charles said.

She said the grass was reaching heights over six feet in some areas, and the house was also falling apart.

Charles said she has even seen several rats and snakes coming out of the grass. She also said that the roof of the abandoned building was under the threat of collapse from woodlice.

Despite all of this, she said she was most concerned by the increased number of mosquitoes.

“These days dengue just running rampant in the country, and we have at the moment 12 elderly people, ranging in age from 50 years to 97 years.

It is imperative that something be done about this problem, before somebody in here gets seriously sick or worse,” Charles said.

She said she has made several reports to various authorities for assistance, however nothing has been done to resolve the problem.

“I have called the HDC. I then went to the Environmental Management Agency, but they said they can’t do anything because it belongs to the HDC. My last option was the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation. Four months ago they said they would come, but nobody reach as yet, and the situation is only getting worse,” Charles said.

She also said from time to time, people she described as homeless would walk into the abandoned property and spend the night. Charles said this situation was becoming more frequent, and she was also concerned about the safety of her charges. When contacted, a public health inspector at the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation said the report will be investigated immediately and assistance would be provided where possible.

Also, Leslie John, corporate communications manager at HDC said after an initial investigation she was able to identify the property and she confirmed that the HDC was indeed the owner of the abandoned property. She said a report was sent to the HDC’s maintenance department, and she expected a crew to be sent out to cut the grass on the property. She said she hoped this action would assist in resolving some of Charles’ concerns.