With the memories of the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons still fresh in their minds, 15 Grand Bahama families who lost their homes remain in trailers located opposite the Bootle Bay settlement in West End.
While some of them who spoke with the Bahama Journal recently said the living is tough, they remained thankful to have somewhere to live, and hopeful that they would soon be able to move into new housing.
Most of the residents will be provided free housing through a joint programme with USAID and the National Emergency Management Agency.
Cetis King, one of the residents, had stayed at the Royal Oasis Resort, which had opened 75 rooms to more than 260 hurricane-affected residents following Hurricane Wilma last October.
According to Mr. King, after most of the families left, the Department of Social Services accommodated him, his wife, son and sister-in-law in one of the trailer homes where they have been staying for the past three months.
Mr. King said living in the trailer is “okay” and he is grateful because he has nowhere else to go until his house is rebuilt.
“Iﾒll be here until they [Department of Housing] get the house finished. Then when the house is finished I will be ready to move because I donﾒt want to live here too long,” Mr. King, a retiree, said.
“The living conditions are alright. We have bathrooms and showers and itﾒs comfortable for the time being. I have to make it comfortable because thereﾒs no place to go.”
Fiona Nesbitt, another resident, said she was staying in an apartment in West End for three months after her home was destroyed during the last hurricane.
But Ms. Nesbitt said after she could not meet the payments, the Department of Social Services found her a place in the modular housing project, where she and three of her four children have been living for the past three weeks.
“You have to make it your own until you find someth]ing better,” Ms. Nesbitt said. ” I just stay in my little corner.”
Another resident, Nioka Davis, said prior to Wilma, she was living in Bowleg Town, which is located just outside of West End, but when Hurricane Wilma destroyed her home she had no choice but to make one of the trailers her home.
Ms. Davis told the Bahama Journal that she has been living with three of her six children and her disabled sister for the past five months, and it has been a challenge at times.
“Some people clean [up after themselves] and some donﾒt,” Ms. Davis said.
“The bathroom and the kitchen are not working properly and they have people who come and clean it, but certain children go back and dirty it. If I see the place dirty, I go and clean it, but sometimes it makes no sense to clean it because they [the children] go and dirty it up.”
Ms. Davis, who intends to rebuild on her stepfatherﾒs property in West End, said she feels “comfortable” for now.
Some residents had complained that the public areas such as the communal bathrooms and the kitchen do not work properly from time to time.
But Department of Housing officials, who are responsible for maintaining the premises, said whenever there is a problem they work quickly to have it rectified.
Dedra Butler, another resident, who has been living at the modular housing project for a year and a half with her mother, grandmother and little sister, said the bathroom facilities have been “kind of messed up” and “there were some leaks in the kitchen.”
In an interview with the Bahama Journal, NEMA Coordinator with the Department of Housing Jerome Godfrey said that every effort has been made to maintain the place on a daily basis.
“In communal living, as a trailer home allows, it requires the cooperation of some of the residents to do their part in maintaining their own surroundings,” Mr. Godfrey said.
“On the other hand, we have full-time staff that do come in often to maintain the property generally, but it does require the cooperation of the residents also on premises.”
Mr. Godfrey said the trailers, which are built to withstand hurricane-force winds, have stood up to Hurricane Wilma. He said should the residents still be there in the event of another hurricane they could evacuate to nearby shelters or stay with families.
By: Courtnee Romer, The Bahama Journal
