Shirley and Charles Gillett, the daughter and father who escaped serious
injuries on Monday when their two storey wooden house on Seagull Street suddenly
collapsed, this evening finally moved into their brand new home and just in
time before the heavy rains started. The construction was carried out under
the Southside Poverty Alleviation Project and the Ministry of Works.
Hon. Anthony Boots Martinez, Minister of Works
“The entire project started 5 o’clock on Tuesday morning and
we were committed to getting back these people in their homes, especially when
one family with three kids were living in this little house here for the meantime.
Bathroom facilities are, they are already hooked up to the sewer system of which 
they didn’t have. The house is complete from roof, foundation, to ceiling.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
I notice in front of the house there is also a smaller building. What is the
structure about?
Hon. Anthony Boots Martinez,
“This structure is what Mr. Gillett had as a little shop so we just
restructured it for him. Also too I think he is getting ready to open back his
little shop so this was here before and we just remodelled and restructured
it for him.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
In speaking with the family I know they said they also lost some of their furnishings
that received some damage when the house collapsed. Do you know if any help
came forward?
Hon. Anthony Boots Martinez,
“No and I have to be honest, a lot of people came out here only for
the cameras and doing interviews but also too I would urge the business community
to please chip in and give this poor family a hand. We’ve had offers from
people saying they will help but at least I said to some of them, don’t
just help the people to move away the debris, hopefully that will be forthcoming,
but more importantly I have secured a donation to you of $300 for the family
for groceries and that’s a social contribution from a businessman. But
apart from that Jacqueline, I need to emphasize the point that the government
and the Ministry of Works under the southside alleviation project have been
working hard tirelessly to rescue these situations. If you move around on the
southside of Belize City you will see we have did over 100 home repairs on the
southside. Under the southside project we have built over 15 of these little
homes, one of which is going on right now and you have seen. So a lot of time
we rescue the situation before it evens reaches the media.”
Martinez says the plan now is to remove the debris from the old structure
that fell and that work should commence shortly.
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