Man living in poverty fears his house could cave in on him

Nigel Townsend is fearful that his life could be cut short while sleeping at his Maxfield Avenue dwelling. He is petrified that his dilapidated, old house could cave in and end in his demise.

The 59-year-old man has been living in the tough, impoverished community at his Fitzgerald Avenue address for longer than he can remember, having moved to the area from Two Miles in Kingston with his mother (now deceased) and sister.

Since 1999, Townsend has been on his own, and over time, his one-bedroom dwelling has deteriorated significantly.

“Two Mile mi born and grow and come bout ya. Me and my mother and sister. But from mommy dead out, from she gone, a just me. A it this now. Mi a ping pong with it cause you know me nuh have nothing,” he told The Gleaner.

Sitting on his fragile bed structure, Townsend constantly glanced at his ceiling overhead, which provides no shelter when it rains.

Not even the flooring of his house is intact, and everything in the dwelling leans against something or is tied up so that it remains in place.

“Councillor nuh come. Di people dem tell him, but dem nah come ya so,” Townsend said of the lack of willingness by political representatives who have been told of his plight.

“A hustle mi affi hustle more time, carry water, and dem thing deh. Sometime I go out for people, and dem give me a thing. That’s how I get to put on a pot.”

Townsend said, “It grieve me,” when he looks at his home.

“Mi a say, boy, mi shoulda deh pon something mi woulda deal wid it, but me nuh deh pon nothing fi deal with it. It grieve me more time when it stay so. When mi come inna it, it did stay better than this,” Townsend told The Gleaner.

He said that living in a tenement yard, he has learned that to be poor is a crime.

The residents of Fitzgerald Avenue reached out to our news team to highlight the deplorable condition in which the elderly man lives.

“Mi feel good. I need the help because hurricane season is on, and mi couldn’t stay ina this fi all Gilbert. Mi ina it when hurricane, yes, but it never stay suh. A dry-weather house this. If rain fall hard, the top drop in. Mi need some help cause this can cave in any time,” Townsend stressed.

Eugene Kelly, long-time councillor for the community, could not be reached.

Repeated calls to his cell phone rang without answer.