In a long-awaited breakthrough for Nikita Alleyne, a single mother of three living in a rat-infested home in a rural parish, the government’s One Family programme has stepped in to take over her case from the Rural Development Commission, Barbados TODAY can reveal.
After sixteen months of frustration and pleas for help, Alleyne’s situation is finally moving forward, thanks to a chance phone call to a programme official she had stored in her contacts. The intervention comes as the RDC faces ongoing challenges in meeting the high demand for housing assistance across the island.
In November 2023, when Barbados TODAY first reported on the plight of the Alleyne family, she had reached out to the Welfare Department for urgent assistance in finding alternative rental accommodation while the RDC worked on plans to rebuild her deteriorating structure located in St Joseph. The rebuilding was scheduled to start during the 2024-2025 financial year, which ends this month, because the woman’s request for house repairs had been made after the start of the
2023-2024 fiscal year.
Her frustration continued until Monday, when Alleyne, in a desperate move, said she called a number she had stored in her phone for a long time, which turned out to be an official of the One Family Programme.
“I had this lady in my phone by the name of Miss Daniel, and she is part of the same programme. I had her number in my phone for a very long time. I called the same officer [RDC director] and he told me he couldn’t get any information, and it was getting frustrating for me. So, I remembered that I had her number and I returned to her yesterday, and quickly, she dealt with me,” Alleyne said on Tuesday.
“She told me I would have to move out from where I am, and to send over the documents to her, and from there she would start the processing. So, what I have to do now is to look for some place to rent, because I can’t stay at my child’s father’s anymore. So, it’s working a little bit, but we are going to give it a couple of weeks and see what happens,” the single mother declared.
RDC Director Russell Armstrong confirmed that the One Family Programme had taken up the woman’s matter.
“They contacted us. They are doing the social work on it. We had some challenges. As you may or may not know, she did say she had signed off for the land, but she wasn’t able to provide the updated sign-off. So, One Family has taken it over, and once she does that, we would be able to give some assistance,” Armstrong told Barbados TODAY.
“They are handling the initial part now, and once they get going and give us the recommendation, we will go ahead.”
He also revealed that the demand for housing assistance from his agency continues to be great while it tries to meet as many requests as possible within its financial constraints.
“So, while we are doing work and we have had success, we still have more work to do,” Armstrong added. “We have our heads to the ground, boots on the ground as well, and we are working.”
The One Family Programme focuses on providing support in areas like technical training and human resource development, job support and counselling, health awareness, and access to social services. Operating under the aegis of the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, it is targeting 1 000 vulnerable families.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
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