A SENIOR citizen may have won a lengthy battle to keep trespassers off the property she rents from the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC).Should BHC head Glenn Brangman give it the go-ahead, a fence is to be erected preventing pedestrian traffic from using her front porch as a shortcut.

The move comes despite the fact the Government quango has yet to acknowledge a litany of complaints she has filed since she was placed in the home more than a year ago, and is due to direct intervention on her behalf by United Bermuda Party (UBP) candidates Tillman Darrell and Wayne Scott.

“I was sent two kind members of the UBP who showed great concern and saw the problems that my landlord, the BHC, didn’t do anything about,” she said yesterday. “I am looking forward to some peace.”

It is understood the candidates met with the property’s owner and he agreed that a fence could be built.

“He said he had no problem with us putting a fence up to keep people from loitering in the area,” Mr. Darrell said. “And we’re willing to help build it once we are given the go-ahead (by the BHC).”

The woman, who lives in a tiny apartment in the back of town, complained for months that her use of the property was limited by drug dealers and prostitutes who hung out on the front porch.

She admits the miscreants haven’t been there recently, but she remains bothered by residents who continue to use her porch as part of an existing footpath between two public roads.

A lack of assistance from the BHC, various Government MPs and Ombudsman Arlene Brock caused her to contact this newspaper as a means of drawing attention to her plight.

On a recent visit, this reporter saw six people walk through the woman’s porch in a period of less than ten minutes. Adding to the inconvenience of the traffic is the size of the porch — if the front door is open pedestrians need to shut it in order to be able to pass through. The woman was considering taking the BHC to court to resolve her problems until this most recent intervention by the UBP.

“Just because the BHC and the Housing Minister (Senator David Burch) don’t have a plan for housing they think they can kick people around,” she said.

“I am not one of those people. I will not let them (try and) kick me around without defending myself. They should have known they would have a response from me.

“The BHC has to understand that a contract works both ways. There is a two-way obligation and it concerns safe and fair housing for both parties. The BHC doesn’t have that plan. They will not get anything right until they deliver the safe and adequate housing they promised.”

As her rental contract specifically states that she should not encourage “anti-social behaviour” on the property and in fact, should report it, the woman remains confused as to why the BHC “completely ignored” her complaints.

“I don’t understand that. If I didn’t report it, they would say I was a part of it,” she stated.

And she said she was horrified to hear Sen. Burch lying about her case on his Sunday night radio show on HOTT 107.5.

“I was tuned in,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it when I heard a caller come on and ask Colonel Burch to explain to the listening audience how I continue to complain about him and the BHC not doing anything to help my situation. The fact is that the caller was — as usual — blinded by her defence of the PLP. As she tried to expose me, she ended up exposing Colonel Burch. He didn’t tell the truth.”

Sen. Burch’s on-air explanation was that the BHC had offered to relocate her three times — a remarkable untruth, according to the woman, who maintains that she has only been offered alternate accommodation on one occasion, and then it was merely a knee-jerk reaction to her complaints.

“I want Colonel Burch and the BHC to name how, when and where they offered to put me somewhere. The only offer — if you want to call it that — was made as a reaction to my complaints.

“In September they took me to Alexandra Road in Prospect, to the number 12 dormitory, to show me a place that was fully occupied with someone’s belongings. It was very dirty. It was full of insects. If you want to call that an offer, that’s what they showed me.

“It was someone’s apartment. All their possessions were there. I’m hoping that the lady will read this story because she has a case against the BHC. What they did was unlawful. They were trespassing and they took in a stranger.

“That was back in September. I’ve heard nothing (further) from the BHC to this day. I don’t see how Colonel Burch can say over the airwaves that he offered to relocate me. I’ve never even met the man.”

She said she called the talk show to defend herself, at which point she was accused of “being disrespectful” towards the Senator.

“He was co-hosting with Wayne Smith, who asked if I was trying to call the Colonel a liar,” she said. “What else was I to say? If you put words into the mouth of someone like me, you shouldn’t expect me to back off. I would have been being dishonest with myself. And so I said yes. That’s not disrespectful.

“What I want to know is if Colonel Burch has a licence to be disrespectful and if so, where he got it from because I can be just as disrespectful. Who does he think he is? I don’t understand why, in asking my landlord the BHC to allow me to enjoy the fruits of my labour, I had to (take the matter) this far.”

The talk show host’s comment that the BHC had offered to relocate her three times directly contradicted his earlier remarks, she added.

“He told the public he only moves undesirable tenants. Why would he offer to relocate a desirable tenant three times when the housing situation is so poor? How could he? They’ve got people waiting in line for housing and they’ve supposedly offered to move a good tenant three times? It makes no sense.

“They’ve unnecessarily wasted my time. I’ve been fighting for this for an entire year and three months — while paying my way on time, all the time.”All payments were made despite the fact that the BHC “is in arrears in making repairs” to several of its properties, she added.

“All I’m saying to the BHC and Colonel Burch, is either you have a plan or you don’t.”

She made it quite clear that she would not be voting for the PLP at the next General Election: “I’m telling every member of the PLP, don’t knock on my door for any kind of vote.”

She said she was equally disappointed with Premier Ewart Brown, who has also ignored her pleas for assistance.

“To this day I’ve heard nothing. And so I say to the Premier, I challenge him — I’m sure he knows who I am — and Colonel Burch to come and see my problem and tell the public the truth.”

Dr. Brown’s missile against the soon-to-be-closed Medical Clinic — formerly known as the Indigent Clinic — had been misdirected, she argued.

“Maybe they should close down the BHC instead of the Indigent Clinic and dispose of Colonel Burch. Premier Brown said the clinic doesn’t have any dignity, the BHC doesn’t have any either.

“They’re placing people in rest homes with soiled bedding — the BHC should not still be in operation. The Government has no social agenda, only a personal agenda.”

Fence to help senior keep the addicts out