NDC to help family rebuild after fatal collapse of LBI house
The Better Hope/La Bonne Intention Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) will be assisting the family whose home collapsed on Friday and left a young girl dead and her brother hospitalised.
Amber Richards, 12, of Canal Number One, West Bank Demerara, was said to have been swinging in a hammock under the wooden stilt house at Lot 371 La Bonne Intention when it fell. She was pinned under the collapsed structure for almost an hour. Her brother, Joshua Richards, eight, who suffered injuries to one of his legs and his neck, was admitted at the Georgetown Public Hospital. His condition was listed as stable yesterday.
Meanwhile, a team, comprising NDC Chairman Zaman Shaw, acting Regional Chairman Earle Lambert, Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan and other officials visited the family yesterday morning.
Shaw subsequently told Stabroek News that the NDC will be working towards providing assistance to the family so that they can at least start rebuilding their home. “We will work to ensure that they can start build back and try to provide them with at least some sand and other materials to start this process,” he noted.
Shaw also disclosed that during the visit, the team learnt that the house was in such a poor state that the occupants were expecting an accident to occur someday. He said it was related that no repairs were done on the structure for 30 years.
The residence was the home of the children’s aunt, Vanessa Ramgolam, her husband and their two children. The siblings were staying there on holiday ahead of the new school term, which begins next month.
The collapse occurred around 2.55 pm. Ramgolam Joshua Richards