Vandals destroy boxing champ’s tent

JUST one day after Newsday highlighted the plight of former local heavyweight champion boxer Wendell Joseph and his family, thugs destroyed their tent, scattering their food and clothes all over the Queen’s Park Savannah around 11 am yesterday. The incident occurred just moments before the National Housing Authority (NHA) found a two-bedroom apartment for the Josephs.

The family has been homeless since November 2004, when their San Fernando house was destroyed by fire. They have been living around Port-of-Spain, and most recently opposite  the President’s House in a tent in the Savannah.When Newsday visited the family yesterday, wheelchair-bound Erica Joseph was distraught over the situation. She said that men dressed in black trousers and striped shirts wrecked their belongings in their presence and ordered them to leave by last night. Despite the ordeal, however, the NHA  yesterday disclosed that housing accommodation had been made available to the family, and they will be presented with the keys to their new apartment today.

Joseph told Newsday this was a victory for his wife and all those who supported them during the hard times. “I should probably thank all those who were against my family staying here, because they helped the NHA speed up the process,” he said. Joseph said he would be going to the NHA with  the President of the TT Chapter of Disabled Peoples’ International, George Daniel, who supported their cause by calling on the Ministry of Social Services Delivery to provide them with accommodation.

Social Services Delivery’s Communications Specialist, Carol Ann McKenzie, yesterday said that for more than two months, the ministry had been trying to find temporary accommodation for the family. Newsday was told that Minister of Social Services Delivery, Christine Kangaloo, had been liaising with Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security and Housing, Anthony Roberts, to acquire a home for the family since December.