The Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) has evicted an Anchorage Road resident just before Christmas, BHC general manager Vance Campbell said last week.

Mr. Campbell said the tenant was evicted on Tuesday because he was in arrears by more than $6,000, but was not moved somewhere else. He went on to slam ?reports in the Press? how BHC had evicted Anchorage Road tenants.

?Actually, we are looking to relocate the residents,? he said. ?When someone is evicted the landlord does not do this.?

He added: ?We do not have any issues, and we are not going to make any issues by putting their name in the paper.?

BHC would store the evicted man?s furnishings free of charge until February, he said, but they would not be stored at Anchorage Road, because ?we need to have Anchorage Road vacated by the end of the month as the contractor is due to start by early January?.

Speaking in the House of Assembly this month, Housing Minister Ashfield DeVent said ?if the (Anchorage Road) project is delayed, the cost to the taxpayer could be substantial?.

?The difference between the high and the accepted bids for the Anchorage Road project is approximately $2.2 million,? he said in the House.

Mr. Campbell said the tenant had ?moved out prior to that time but his furniture and effects were still in the building. Rather than put the furniture outside ... we agreed under the circumstances to store it until February... This gives them time to find an apartment or put it in storage elsewhere.?

And Mr. Campbell said he did not know where the evicted tenant will go over Christmas.

?We had discussions with them, but we want to respect their privacy,? he said.

He said he ?just wanted to stress, it keeps getting referred to as evicting, but we are relocating them into other properties and are moved at our expense. This includes trucking and any reconnection fees associated with utilities. That does not sound like an eviction?.

But when asked what will happen to the Anchorage Road tenants who are ?relocated? but do not like their new homes, Mr. Campbell replied: ?We have had a number of people ask to be near St. George?s. But we have to be realistic. The reality is we do not have any empty units in St. George?s... If and when something comes up, and it is possible we can look into move them back to St. George?s.?

He said ?some people call us and say they know where there is an empty unit, but it only because it needs work... If a unit is empty, it is only when work is being done?.

BHC does not have an inventory of empty homes, he said, because there were none.

Two weeks ago there were 40 people on the BHC?s emergency housing list and 63 regular applicants. ?As soon as it becomes available, some people can be put into the unit,? he said.