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Housing Minister Richard Frederick on Tuesday promised alternative accommodation for tenants in the CDC Block X apartments, which are due for demolition soon.
The building is structurally unsound.
“I am hoping to see the demolition of this building probably in the next week or two because we just don’t know how long we have and persons have to be removed from harm’s way,” Frederick told reporters.
The Castries Central MP explained that the tenants needed to vacate urgently.
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“I will ensure from a personal standpoint as a representative of this government that we will throw nobody out – that they will have alternative accommodation even if we have to cushion any kind of financial blow to ensure that it happens,” Frederick asserted, adding that this would be done on a “case by case basis.”
The Minister recalled a meeting that addressed the tenants’ interests.
I indicated to them that this government was not about throwing anybody anywhere. What we did was to identify other areas within the complexes where those persons can be immediately relocated,” he told reporters.
In addition, Frederick said the meeting identified several problems.
“For example, you have a lady who lives in England, who has a store in town but uses an apartment as a storeroom. So she stores goods at $145 a month and persons basically need the apartment,” the Castries Central MP stated.
He also said people live in Cap Estate and visit the apartments once a week, while others facilitate a debit from their salaries and use the apartments ‘off and on’.
“We cannot have those situations to continue. We have a lot of foreigners whose names are registered as tenants of various apartments. We have the problems of sub-letting,” Frederick explained.
He said another meeting is due on Wednesday, where the issue should be resolved.
“And I do know that not one tenant will be left unsatisfied,” Frederick told reporters.
He said there were sixteen registered tenants in Block X.
However, the Minister said not every tenant lives alone.
Headline photo: Stock image
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