The Belle Aire Meadows housing scheme in St. Ann. - Roger Robinson Photo
THE RELOCATION 200 residents in St. Ann also complain of the difficulties of finding bus fares to send their children to school.
While some of the children under 12 years old were able to find accommodation at Dumbarton Primary, others have to travel as far as St. Ann's Bay Primary School, some 15 miles away. These students, along with those attending Marcus Garvey Technical High School, could walk to school from Seville. Now it is costing between $80 and $120 daily for transportation and even more for those attending schools further away such as Ocho Rios High and Ferncourt High schools.
POLITICAL REPRESENTATION
There is also confusion over political representation. The residents were registered in North East St. Ann and have been voting in that constituency up to the 2003 local Government Elections. Now they have been placed in the heart of North West St. Ann and are now trying to determine whether their Member of Parliament is still Shahine Robinson, or the North Western M.P. Verna Parchment.
Community leader Percival Folkes said apart from the mortgage arrears, delinquent beneficiaries of the housing units are forced to visit the law office of Gentles and Willis where they are told to pay a fee of $12,000 in addition to the money that is owed on the unit.
"We have suffered too much over the past two years and we are demanding an urgent meeting with the coordinator of Relocation 2000, Mr. O.D. Ramtallie," Folkes argued.
Other Relocation 2000 sites are located at Railway Lane and Barracks Road in St. James, and Mona Commons in St. Andrew.
