the city council workers surprised her yesterday morning

micevan1l6

…City Council unawareThe demolition of a house by people purporting to be City Council workers has left eight people homeless.One of the occupants, 62-year-old Desiree Neils, of 102 Da Silva and Republic Streets, Newtown, stated that she was traumatized by the situation.The visibly distraught woman claimed that she suffers from asthma and that the demolition triggered her illness. She started to wheeze and cry as she related her story. “We don’t have anywhere to go now and we have a lot of things. Who will take us in with all these things?”The woman’s daughter, Debra Neils, told Kaieteur News that the building belonged to her mother’s relatives who live abroad.Neils stated that the building had been home to her mother and four other family members for more than 10 years. She said that they have been caretakers of the house and that they occupied the place free of cost.  The woman noted that last April they were given a notice to move because the building was in need of repairs.“They gave we notice in April and tell we to move by June month end.”Neils told this newspaper that the property was a part of a court battle between her mother’s relative and another person. Judgement was granted in favour of that person. She said that she has since been searching for a place to rent but found that rent was expensive.Neils said that she could not afford to pay rent since she is unemployed. She claimed this is due to her mother’s illness. The woman explained that she had stopped working to care for her mother, who has a foot ulcer. The woman revealed that their only source of revenue comes from her two brothers who also live with them.The woman said that since they were given notice to move she had started to look for work but she was only recently successful in securing a job at the Guyana Revenue Authority.Neils said that she was scheduled to commence her duties from today but that she would be unable to do so because of the situation. The woman said that she is unsure where they will lodge for the time being, since most of their relatives live far away.According to the Neils, the city council workers surprised her yesterday morning, when they came to her door. She said that the council workers were very prompt with proceedings.The woman noted that works began immediately after one of the workers who came to her door produced a document stating that they were from the council and that they were going to dismantle the property.When Kaieteur News arrived on the scene the workers had already wrecked the upper portion of the building in which three people occupied. Some of the contents from the upstairs apartment were thrown into the yard, and some on the road.This newspaper was told that the inhabitants of upper flat of the house had started to move but that some of their belongings were left in the house.  A few persons were seen assisting Neils to carry her household articles to a nearby yard.Some council workers said that they were working under instructions but that their boss had left the premises. They declined to reveal the name of their boss.Angry residents were heard saying that they don’t understand why city council would want to tear down the house because it was in good condition. They noted that there are other deplorable buildings around the city that are not being torn down. One resident noted that city council never came to clear the drains in the area but responded hastily to break down someone’s house.However, Mayor Hamilton Green told Kaieteur News in a telephone interview, that the matter does not concern council and that he is therefore baffled as to why council workers were deployed to destroy the property.Green said that he was informed by the city engineer that the matter is a private matter and thus workers from the council should not be involved in it. The Mayor said that council is unaware of such proceedings and that he is currently investigating the matter.Green later told this publication that when checks were made by senior officials from the council, the house was already destroyed and the workers had departed from the grounds. He then stated that more clarification is needed on the issue and that further investigations will be launched into the matter.