HELP?is on the way for a 57-year-old woman who broke her right foot when she fell through the rotten floorboards of her dilapidated home.
Lorraine Knight underwent surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital this week after suffering the serious injury last Wednesday at her home at Boyce Road, Free Hill, Black Rock, St Michael.
A concerned citizen who is aware of the woman’s plight drew her situation to my attention, pointing out that there was no way that she could return to her home when she is released from hospital.
Her daughter Natasha, who lives opposite her at her grandmother’s house, said she, too, was concerned about her mother’s welfare.
She explained that her unemployed mother, who is partially blind, lived in the house for close to 20 years, even though it had now become uninhabitable.
She said the boards were rotten and a section of the roof had been blown off during Tropical Storm Tomas in 2010.
The woman pointed out that because of certain family issues her mother refused to live with them and preferred to remain in the house that an elderly woman, whom she had taken care of for several years, had left for her.
“Last Wednesday I?was at home when my grandmother told me that she could hear my mother crying out. I?ran over to the house and found her on the floor crying out in pain. She told me that she had slipped while coming out of the bathroom,” Natasha explained.
She recalled that officials from the Urban Development Commission (UDC)?had visited her mother last year and discussed rebuilding a house for her. However, she said, that UDC?officials had later indicated that they could not locate the landlord to get permission to build on the land.
“She can’t come back in here. This is no place for her to be living,” Natasha cried.
When contacted, parliamentary representative for St Michael North-West Chris Sinckler said he was aware of Knight’s plight and had sourced temporary accommodation for her at Ashdeane Village, Black Rock, St Michael.
He said the UDC?was desirous of rebuilding a house for Knight but had so far been unable to locate the landlord.
“She should not be in that house. That is no condition for any human being to be in.
I?understand that her family moved her out after Tomas damaged the house but she moved back in. We are preparing a house for her, but a family member has to be willing to move in with her to help her adjust to a new environment,” he stated.
