The bad living conditions of some tenants in Barbados and how much rent they have to pay are burning issues in this country. In this, the second in a series of articles, we present some of the rooms/houses people rent and speak to the tenants about the conditions of their tenancy. Next week we will hear from landlords and policymakers to get their perspective. To let us know about your situation, call 430-5563 or 262-5986, or email [email protected] or [email protected].
THE?HOUSE?is sparkling clean.
The oversized furniture is neatly arranged while flowers and ornaments add a decorative flair. Even the outdoor pit toilet is carpeted and beautified with a decorative shelf.
But all this fails to hide the rotting floorboards, the holes in the ceiling and the tininess of the rooms.
This house, located in an overcrowded City neighbourhood, has been home to a 43-year-old woman for over five years. She pays $80 a week in rent and for as long as she has been living there, her landlord has never popped in to inspect the dilapidated condition even though she has made several complaints to him.
But although she has to squeeze through the tiny spaces, sleep on a bed whose legs go through the floorboards, and bathe under a pipe in the backyard, this is her home and she treats it as such.
The woman is frustrated at having to go to the National Housing Corporation every week “to beg for a house”.
She has held the same job for 23 years and has saved enough money in the credit union but still the dream of owning her own home remains elusive.
Land too expensive
“The credit union is willing to lend me the money to build a house but I cannot afford to buy land. It is too expensive,” she cried.
She recalled that when she first moved into the house it was so depressing that she “hit the road every day”.
“When you are living in these conditions, all you could do is walk about,” she stated. And even though she built the small pit toilet and keeps it clean with air freshener and all, the mere sight of the termite-eaten entry door gives her a constipated feeling.
“Before I had the pit toilet I used to go over to the bus stand and use the bathrooms, but now I just wait until I can get by friends or family,” she admitted.
“I?only sleep here, but I don’t live here,” was how she summed up her existence.
On the other side of town, next to a primary school, a shabby-looking old two-storey building is hidden away behind an old wrought iron gate.
Its name may sound stately, but there is nothing magnificent about living there.
Several people of different sexual orientations – gays, lesbians and heterosexuals – live there, squeezed into tiny rooms, 21 to be exact. The occupants have to share three bathrooms.
A 34-year-old mother of five is among the families who struggle to pay $125 a week for a room.
She has been living there for over 14 years with four of her children – the oldest now 16 and the youngest, six.
“I want to get out now,” she confessed. “This is not the right environment for my children. I?trying to get somewhere ever since but everybody giving me a hard time . . . .
It is too much stress. All kinda people does just walk off the road and come in here and do as they like.”
She recalled the embarrassing situation of a pastor who visited her one day and was forced to retreat when he was confronted with a violent scene.
Owes $2 000
“The reception that he got he did not like it,” she remarked.
She owes the landlord over $2 000 in rent but said that she had been out of work for a long time. However, she explained that she had refused to pay because of the condition of the house.
It leaked whenever it rained, she said.
“I used to get money from the Welfare [Department] but that stop. [That department] stop putting people in here. They cut out the landlord completely,” she said.
While there seems to be no way out anytime soon, this woman says she is determined to provide better conditions for her children.
On the outskirts of The City, a couple has learnt to bear with the state of the three-bedroom house they pay $500 a month to rent.
Although the man has lived in the three-bedroom wall house for most of his life, other family members moved out over time, unable to continue living in the substandard conditions.
As his girlfriend walks us through the house, pointing to every single defect, her embarrassment is evident.
The side door is barely hanging on. The entire ceiling is collapsing. Pieces of blue tarpaulin stuffed into the ceiling to prevent the water from pouring in are weather-beaten and shredded to pieces.
The kitchen is cold and dark.
Above the stove a huge piece of card board from the ceiling hangs dangerously.
Two of the bedrooms have become uninhabitable and are used only for storage. Despite this the house is neatly arranged.
According to the couple, the landlord, who resides overseas, couldn’t care less. He has sent word to them through his attorney, who collects the rent: “Repairs are not included in the contract.”
