After seeing their neighbours’ house collapse and slide down a hill – along with everything inside it – early on Wednesday, people from at least two nearby houses have cleared out their homes as they wait for their houses to fall apart too “at any moment.”
Nardera Ramsaran-Williams told Newsday on Thursday, “We only have a few more things in the gallery. We spend the night in two cars on the roadside. We cannot function properly right now. The land is still moving.”
She, her husband Chester Williams and their two children, 15 and 20, live next to Giles Garcia, 62, and his family at Diamond Road in Claxton Bay. On Wednesday, a landslip destroyed the Garcias' three-bedroom home.
At least three other houses with a total of 14 people are bracing for the worst.
Since early Wednesday, the Williamses have been removing belongings from their home. They were afraid to stay in the house.
By Thursday, they had even removed the front door. There were a few items in bags in the gallery.
The back of their yard caved in, and the water tanks and stands collapsed, as well as several trees.
“We may have to spend another night in the cars. We have nowhere to go. We sent some of the items by relatives,” Ramsaran-Williams said.
She said someone told the family they would be entitled to a temporary relief housing grant for three months from the Government.
“The person said we can find a place to rent and the Government would pay for it. It is better than nothing. After the three months, an evaluation would be done, the man said.
"This house could go down anytime.”
Another neighbour, Marva Fritz, 67, said family and friends also cleared out her house.
[caption id="attachment_913582" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A shipping container also fell victim to the landlside at Diamond Road, Claxton Bay. - Lincoln Holder[/caption]
“I did not really sleep last night, thinking about the whole incident. It has us so frightened. We cannot stay here any more. My house is cracking, and it is getting worse by the second. It is unsafe to go inside.
“People from this village and the other village (Windsor Park in California) came and gave a hand to try to salvage items. We live in unity here, and if one person cries, all cry.”
Fritz spent the night by her sister Leonie Roberts, 74, Garcia’s mother-in-law, who lives at the front of the same property.
Garcia, his wife Anastasia Morris-Garcia and her two adult children, 30 and 31, also spent the night at Roberts’ cramped two-bedroom house.
“We were like chickens in a chicken coop, everyone in a corner.
"For the past few days, cracks have been appearing in her home too,” Fritz said.
“We need a house. She too would need a house.
"When they (Government) decide to give us houses, we want to choose where we go. I have a three-bedroom house, and I have many things. I do not want a two-bedroom house.”
The affected area is outside the boundary of Coco Road quarry, which is owned by the Estate Management and Business Development Company Ltd (EMBD). Residents believe quarr
