(SNO) – A home owner of Inglewood Acres, Grand Riviere, Gros Islet is lucky to be alive today after a wall collapsed during the weekend’s heavy rains, damaging his house and his tenant’s pickup van, extensively.
John d’Auvergne escaped with only minor bruises to his feet, but he is counting his blessings because the debris smashed through his bedroom wall and on to his bed, while he slept. All this occurred at the bottom apartment. The living room, along with furnishings, were also damaged.
“I cannot understand how I escaped. God is great,” he told St. Lucia News Online.
At the time of the incident, that occurred a few minutes after midnight, d’Auvergne said a guest was in another room which was not damaged.
He disclosed that part of the wall had fallen on June 7, 2016, one day after the general elections.
“After several letters, photos, trips to Ministry of Infrastructure, promises were made and little happened except visitations to the area . Now, all the damage is done,” he said.
D’Auvergne said complaints about the wall had been made, since 1999, to the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDC) and Ministry of Communications and Works but it’s “always the same story: we shall look into it”. He said the wall was built by the HUDC followed by the Ministry of Infrastructure.
He said damages are already over $120,000, the owner said, pointing out that the $100,000 pickup van, which belongs to his tenant, was “crushed to the ground”.
And his next plan of action?
“Over to the parliamentary representative (Lenard Montoute) and the Ministry of Infrastructure! I am trying to call the media, my lawyers and to contact my parliamentary rep. I had written numerous letters about the condition of the wall,” he said.
A similar incident occurred in Millet on Saturday, Nov. 10, around 7 p.m. when a landslide caused a shop to collapse, injuring at least four people.
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