MARK GUERRA may be dead yet
the name of this URP supervisor and “community leader”
resonates in a lot of people’s mouths, including that of
57-year-old Kenrick Dick who, up to three Tuesdays ago, still
had a home in the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain.
Workers from the Port of Spain City Corporation tore down the
structure on April 12.
Dick, who goes by the nickname of “Rasta”, was allegedly
hired by the late gang leader as a caretaker for the newly-built
toilet facilities.
“Yes, he hired me when he was campaigning for the People’s
National Movement (PNM) Government during the last general elections
to work as a watchman and caretaker of the facilities,”
he claims.
Recalling how he obtained the job, he said: “I was walking
down Maraval Road when I met a Muslim guy who asked me if I wanted
a job.
“I told him yes and he advised me to go down to the savannah
to meet Mark Guerra.
“Right on the spot I was hired on July 2, 2002.”
He even received a salary of $801.36 per fortnight, a cheque for
which he collected at Kenthouse, Maraval.
He said the establishment of the place fell under the “Special
Savannah Project”.
“I have a house in Beetham Gardens, but it did not make
sense going and coming all the time so I decided to stay here.”
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Workers
from the Port of Spain City Corporation
demolish the never-used-before toilet facilities.
Workers walk past the belongings of
KENRICK DICK.
KENRICK
“Rasta” DICK looks dejectedly at his
bed after the structure was demolished.
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Strangely enough, the structure was erected initially as a toilet
and bathroom facility for the patrons at the savannah yet no pipes,
toilets or any other fittings had been installed.
There was no running water, either.
The caretaker said he usually got water from the nearby Water
and Sewerage Authority (WASA) pipeline.
And this has been happening since July 2002.
Dick alleges that his salary still continued after Guerra died
in 2004 but his identification card disappeared.
“There was no way I could go to collect my salary after
my ID card was stolen so I never bothered to go.
“I was never given anything in writing stating that my job
was terminated so I occupied the building,” he revealed.
It was only on Wednesday April 12, that workers from the Port
of Spain City Corporation accompanied by Constable Kingston from
the Port of Spain City Police visited Dick for the first time
and notified him that the structure which he had called home for
the last four years was about to be completely destroyed.
Calls made to the office of Mayor Murchison Brown were not immediately
returned.
Dick said he has nowhere to go and would now be staying at the
Savannah.
Bandits looted his home in Laventille and the roof was removed.
“I have no roof here and I have no roof on my house in the
Beetham.
“So where am I to go?
“I am staying right here.
“They could have at least given me a day or two to organise
myself,” he said.
Dick said he felt the reason he was treated this way was because
people complained about his four pet dogs.
“They never bother anybody ... and this what going on here,”
he said pointing to the rubble, “it is total madness”!
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