By: Andrew Carmichael
Rominia Benedict, 29, her husband Parmannand Drepaul, 38, and the couple’s six children were on Chtistmas morning presented with a new and furnished house by President Dr Irfaan Ali as a Christmas gift.
The initiative to get the family a new house was undertaken by Men On Mission which is headed by the President.
One week ago, Benedict had appealed for assistance to ensure she and her children have some comfort for Christmas.
She had been living in a small shack which was not large enough for the family to sleep in comfortably.
Additionally, financial constraints made it difficult for the children to be adequately provided for, many times going without meals.
President Ali showed up on site Christmas morning to deliver the house to the family at Bloomfield, Region Six.
He said this was an example which shows the oneness of the Guyanese people as he pointed out that while it was his initiative, the house was built by a single individual and furnished by another.
He pointed to it as being a good example of the government and the private sector partnership.
Meanwhile, the Head of State also presented a house to Wendy Williams, a mother of three.
The house, which is situated at the new housing scheme at Belvedere, is the first to be occupied.
Williams had reached out to President Ali after her husband died in a rice field when the tractor he was operating turned over with him, pinning him to death in the mud.
The now widow said it was difficult to make ends meet since the passing of her husband.
Additionally, she told INews that the house she lived in was in a bad shape.
President Ali also promised to have Williams enrolled in the the government’s $40,000 ten-day part-time employment.
