FIFTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD CARLTON PADMORE is pleading for help in finding a house for himself and his family.
Padmore’s home in Henley Tenantry, St John, which he also shares with his adult son and daughter, his girlfriend and two grandchildren, is dilapidated, with floors that are almost non-existent and “siding boards” falling away from the frame.
Over the weekend he pointed out some big gaps in the side of the house that expose the occupants to the elements.
“I have to be careful how I am walking in there and when the rain falls I have to put buckets to catch the water . . . .”
He said the house had three bedrooms but only one was suitable for use and was shared by all the occupants.
The house had been passed on to him from his grandparents and he had lived there all his life, he said.
Padmore said he had been appealing for help for some years, even receiving a promise of help from the late parliamentary representative for the parish, David Thompson.
He said he went to the new parliamentary representative Mara Thompson on two occasions and a few months ago someone from the Welfare Department visited the house and acknowledged that he needed urgent assistance.
“Nobody ain’t give me no assistance. They just come and look at it,” he lamented.
Padmore said even though he works, he finds it hard to meet his monthly obligations. He has been working at Todds Estate for the past three years, being employed only three days a week and taking home $180 after taxes are deducted.
He said he has been trying to get some “outside” work on weekends to supplement his wages. (LK)
