West End Corporation Comes Under Attack

8 The Workers Voice. Friday, Feb. 24, 1984 'HOUSE OF HORROR' REARS ITS UGLY HEAD IN HAMILTON! (Continued from page 1) them upstairs and then fix up the two down stairs apartments. any idea of the condition of the apartments for He did renovate the two upstairs apartments which they are collecting the rents. extensively, and then moved his son into one RAINWATER AND RATS and another lady Into the other. We moved on to look at the apartment occu It Is obvious that Ms. Burch and Ms. Smith pied by Ms. Pearl Smith and her four school-age and their families are not the only Bermudians children. Here again there was evidence of damp- living in Intolerable conditions. And this in a rot everywhere and patches of plaster fallen country which boasts of Its "affluent society" from the walls and the ceilings. and "high standard of living". This scene shows the rotted ceilings end Walls of Ms. Smith told us that recently she had paid These are the citizens who do not earn a lot a downstairs apartment in the Court Stre^ buil $30 for a new pair of school shoes for one of of money. Who cannot afford to pay high rents. ding which is unfit for human occupancy. her children. She had to purchase another pair Many fear that. If they complain too loudly, the for the child a month later — because the first landlord will evict them; renovate the apart pair- had been chewed up by the rats! ments and then charge exorbitant rents, vvhich The back door into the kitchen has no latch they cannot afford. or fastening of any kind. The window panes are Where are they to go? Government Is cer mostly patched up with plyboard. The front tainly not providing houses or apartments for door Is eaten by termites. these low-Income workers. In this apartment too, the electrical wiring Another fact that emerges Is that the various was In a mess and they have to use candles for Government departments which are responsible light. There were large ratholes In every room for the health and welfare of its citizens, whose that the tenants had tried to block up, but the taxes are paying their wages, are aware of these rats still get in. appalling conditions and are doing nothing to In the children's bedroom a large section of change them. the wall has collapsed through damp and there The UBP Government has been returned to is a hole In the ceiling. power over and over again on the strength of its promises to the people, and its avowed Intention BROKEN PROMISES of tackling the very serious problems that face Both Ms. Burch and Ms. Smith told us that our society. the landlord had promised some time ago to Here is the basin in one of the bathrooms that it fix up his two upstairs apartments, to move We can only say that. In the area of health, they are not doing the job! unused because of no running water. WEST END CORPORATION COMES UNDER ATTACK (Continued from page 1) what would happen to them, should the Corpor elopment Corporation, that body is only answer Representing the Dockyard Housing Com ation decided to pull down their present resi able to the Minister of Planning, presently, Mr mittee on the dais were Brother Calvert Bean dences. In order to build "new" pre-fab houses Haskins Davies. and Brother Clarkston Tankard, who chaired or apartments. While this is what is nebulously referred to as the meeting. The replies they got from the dais gave them a "quasi-Government" body, yet it does not Sister Gracie Outerbridge, chairman of the little comfort or assurance, only serving to con have to answer to the representatives of the peo Dockyard Housing Committee, spoke from the vince them that the one thing about which they ple in the House of Assembly. floor and put several questions to Cmdr. Kitson, could be sure was that they would be paying Several speakers from the floor made the reminding him that he had appeared on tele much higher rents! point that this was the only remaining large por vision to state that he would be willing to meet OUR MONEY -THEIR DECISIONS tion of land, belonging to the people, yet the with the residents of Dockyard, in order to At one point, feeling ran so high that Sister people are not being allowed any say In how answer their questions. Gracie Outerbridge was greeted with loud cheers this land Is to be developed. Mention was made However, the answers to every question only when she suggested that ALL the concerned citi of the same Front Street stores opening up their led to further questions and the assembled citi zens of Dockyard, Ireland Island and Boaz Is branches in the West End, as they have done in zens became Increasingly confused, by the able land should march to the House of Assembly to the East End, "buck-passing" that went on. register their complaints with Government. A question about a possible conflict of Inter For Instance, when questions were asked From the overall statements — or rather, lack ests occurring with members of the West End from the floor about long overdue repairs to of definite statements from the representatives Development Corporation received no satisfac tenants' properties, Cmdr. Kitson placed the re of the Corporation, this reporter got the Impres tory answer. sponsibility on the Public Works Department. sion (as did most of the large crowd of residents When the meeting finally came to an end^ at But several citizens claimed that, when they assembled there} that Cmdr. Kitson and the about 10.45 p.m., all those who had attended went to the Public Works, they were told that members of his Corporation have been and in (and they packed the hall, and crowded the win it was the responsibility of the West End Devel tend to continue making decisions as to what dows and doorway) left,, with all their questions opment Corporation. THEY wish to do in the development of the unanswered. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE TO WHOM? Dockyard area. The only definite outcome to die nweting was that Cmdr. Kitson and other representatives Cmdr. Kitson met with loud cries of "No!" As an example of this, a member of the aud of the West End Development Corporation when he revealed that he Intended to set up ience asked what had happened to the Peter would meet again. In the near future, witii the a "Mason committee" to look Into the problems borough Plan? {In 1977 3 qroup of "experts' concerned citizens and the rp^bers of the of the residents. When he named this commit had been brought 01 land, from the Dockyard Housing Cdmrhittee. tee, he was greeted with loud jeers, as the per town of Peterborouc Mne the whole An interesting footnote. One or two of the sons mentioned were obviously regarded as be Dockyard area and ommendations Dockyard Housing Committee, agreed that ing UBP sympathisers and supporters, and were as to how It could be' od). the next move on the part of the Corporation therefore considered most unlikely to do any Kitson stated tha dtlon was "ad- would be to approach individual members separ thing constructive to settle the problems of the hering closely" to ^ 1 fact, one of ately and seek to divide them. tenants and residents. the Peterborough ^ Visiting Bermuda on a regular basis to «> ihem. The very next morning, .Brother Clarkston The question was asked several times as to Tankard received a phope call from the Corpor why some members of the Dockyard Housing He was immediately contradicted from the floor, by Mr. Eugene Cox, PLP, MP for Sandys ation saying that they would Hk-e to meet with Committee could not be appointed to the him ALONE. He refused. Board. It was never answered. North, who accused the Corporation of only following those recommendations in the Peter The development of this large area of Bermu Those present became progressively more con da's rapidly decreasing land must be of concem fused, as Kitson, Barker and Horsefield kept re borough Plan which suited THEIR purposes. Those assembled learned that, according to to ALL the citizens of Bermuda. It is THEIR ferring to "the Corporation", sometimes appar land and their future that is involved. ently meaning the West End Corporation and the Act which incorporated the West End Dev- other times the Housing Corporation. There were accusations that the West End Development Corporation were politically moti vated and not really concerned with the welfare of the residents of Dockyard. The Bermuda Library These accusations gained some credibility, when Mr. Astwood stood up and made a leng Queen Street thy speech about his and the Corporation's very Hamilton 5 "real concern" for the welfare of the people. Several tenants expressed their concern as to .

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