The Irma victims hosted by the Collectivity at the former Nina Duverly school have until August 31 to vacate the premises - people without children had until July 31.
Since the passage of Irma, the victims first gathered for a few days in a temporary camp in Green Valley set up by the state services, had finally found refuge in thirteen rooms of Nina Duverly opened in haste by the COM. The school, damaged by the hurricane, could not accommodate students at the start of the school year and should be demolished in a few weeks.
According to a census carried out by the COM family solidarity pole on October 31, 2017, 45 families, making a total of 121 adults and children combined, were sheltered. Currently there are only twenty, six families (nine adults and eleven children).
"They threatened us to place our children and throw away all our things if we did not leave" testify two women who still lived there at the end of July. One of the two, single and childless, has since found accommodation at Sandy Ground thanks to the Trait d'Union association. The other woman, mother of two children, who must also take care of her mother, has just refused the two studios that the association had found for her. Before Irma, she lived in Morne Valois and paid 500 euros in rent for a three bedroom apartment that was completely destroyed by the hurricane. Since then, the supply of housing on the island has become scarce, prices have exploded and she cannot find the equivalent of what she had before and has barely enough to afford a studio.
“The camp is dangerous, a demolition order has been issued. There is water infiltration in the electrical wires ”affirms Joanita Ferdinand, shelter coordinator on behalf of the COM. “We have been helping them do their paperwork for nine months and have been meeting with social workers. A hundred people have already left, and some were in worse situations. Why do the others stay? They received aid, did not pay rents. The goal was that they save to be able to find accommodation. But when they are offered one they don't want it. It makes the difficult. They can say whatever they want. When you're French you have rights and duties. But they did not do their homework: update their papers, find paid work to be able to take an apartment… ”
Social landlords present on the island have no housing available at the moment. It is towards the SIG which is currently renovating its social park, that some families could find refuge. The whole thing is to be staying with friends while waiting. "We gave them a lot, they got a lot," says the coordinator, while acknowledging that finding two-bedroom accommodation is very difficult. One of the last people to stay at Nina Duverly, a mother of three who nevertheless works, is in this case. She still does not know where she will go once the school is closed. (More details on www.soualigapost.com)
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