Home for Christmas

The Macmillans was one of those families, and their brand new three-bedroom town house in Cypress Hills, San Fernando could not have come at a better time for this family, who have seen much heartache.

Josephine Macmillan is a single mother who recently lost a couple of loved ones.

Macmillan’s brother-in- law was murdered a few years ago, and left his wife to care for their three children. However, five months after his murder, his wife died of kidney failure, leaving Macmillan’s nieces and nephew – 14, ten and six at the time – orphaned.

She explained, “I’ve been waiting for about five years. I’m a single parent. I have one child of my own, a girl, she’s thirteen. And my sister got married, and her husband was murdered, and she died five months after. They died the same year, five months apart.

My sister died from kidney failure. I took their three children. At the time, my nephew was 14, my niece was ten and they had a sixyear- old. I was renting in Princes Town for $2,300 monthly.” Macmillan said she was elated at having received her new and much needed home.

Her daughter, nieces and nephew were not present at the ceremony, since she intended to surprise them today with the news of their own home.

She urged those still waiting for a home to keep trying and never give up.

Another new home-owner, Karlana Kent, eager to share her story with the media in the same way that Macmillan was, spent 14 years awaiting a home.

In the meantime, along with her husband, she rented a small, two-bedroom apartment with their three children – two girls and a boy – in Malabar, Arima for $3,000 a month. She grew frustrated. “Up to this year,” she said, “I said I wasn’t coming back.” Joy Gordon-Menser’s story is a bit different.

In 2006, she did receive a call from HDC, but for an apartment. As a result, she did not pursue the matter because she felt a house would be the better option.

Her name, however, remained on the list. She also essayed to purchase land, but was not successful.

Her next step was visiting her St Ann’s East Member of Parliament (MP), Dr Nyan Gadsby- Dolly.

“I decided to go through my MP who is Ms Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, who actually gave me a letter in April of this year to give to the minister’s office. Surprisingly, by May, I got a call to get a package for an interview. And by July/ August, I got my interview.

And HDC was very cooperative in that they allowed me time to get all my documents rectified. And within two days of rectifying my documents, I got a call. And I was called to go see the home.

And then I was called to Allocation who took me through everything and today I’m a proud owner of a home. So I’m saying that as long as you have everything in place, and you go through the process, HDC is willing and able to take you through the process.” Housing Minister Randall Mitchell, in his address, congratulated the recipients and reiterated his call for them to honour their financial obligations to the HDC so the organisation could continue to help others like themselves.

He also said that by year’s end, the ministry intends to turn sod at three new sites: Gomez Street, Moruga; D’Abadie, Arima and Corinth, San Fernando. Just over 200 persons received homes yesterday, as they ministry continues its drive to allocate 1,000 homes by Christmas.

This was the third ceremony, amid criticisms that the Government was also allocating houses in a state of disrepair, which Mitchell has defended saying buyers have the option to accept structures to renovate.