Relief for ravaged Portland residents

With three disaster-ravaged residents at Mill Bank in the Rio Grande Valley of Portland pondering their next move, word has emerged that a team from Food For The Poor will visit that area today.

The visit, among other things, is to determine whether lands occupied by the three persons, Owen Campbell, Horace Palmer, and Kemisha Kilburne, are owned by them and suitable for construction.

"I am happy to learn that Food For The Poor will be looking into my situation," commented Campbell.

"I was a worried man, as my matrimonial home was destroyed. We are bothered by chronic illnesses, including hypertension and diabetes. We received additional food supplies yesterday, which will go a far way in easing the burden on my pocket. All my savings are buried beneath the earth," he added.

FINANCIAL LOSS

Campbell reportedly lost a substantial amount of money when a massive landslide demolished his eight-apartment wood and concrete house, less than 30 seconds after he, his wife Inez and their six-year-old grandchild exited the house at about 6:30 p.m. Thursday last week.

Later today, minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, Everald Warmington, who is the state minister responsible for roads, is scheduled to tour the badly ravaged Rio Grande Valley with a technical team from the National Works Agency to have first-hand look at the damaged road network and to do a preliminary assessment.

Yesterday, a team from the Rural Agricultural Development Authority, headed by its parish manager, Erica Daley, visited dozens of farmers in Seaman's Valley and Cornwall Barracks to view their farms, which were ravaged when the nearby Rio Grande overflowed its banks.