In March of last year a portion of a house on Vernon Street was burnt in a small residential fire. Since that time, the owner has been trying to secure funding to renovate it but in the time that the house has been left empty, the roofing and other portions of the building were stolen. Still, George Gabourel kept at it, and in lean times managed to secure the funds for a rebuild, only to find out that the building he thought that only needed minor repairs had been completely torn down in two days. He's the owner, and he has no idea who would have called for a demolition if he didn't. We got to the bottom of this house hustle today.
Alfonso NobleReporting,
This morning owner of this house at no. 14 Vernon Street, George Gabourel, found that his house was being torn down. Welton Meskin is the contractor who was to have conducted repairs on the structure after a portion of it was burnt on March 11 of last year. He says he was shocked to find that almost the entire building had been torn down without even a warning.
Welton Meskin, Contractor
"When I came here, as you see, it was like this. According to the individual over there it is the City Council who gave an order to break down the house. They didn't notify us. If the house is old, we owe tax, or whatever please notify us and if we had ignored your request then. We don't have any notice. My big surprise was (seeing) the individuals slaughtering the damn house. This house is even older than the Mayor. This house is 70 plus years old."
But for those tearing down the house, the age was really no concern of theirs. The person in charge we spoke to wished not to appear on camera but told us he had gotten instructions to tear down the structure, which he began yesterday. He however has said that he now has to consult with the person who hired him to tear it down. This however is no consolation to the owner and Meskin who says the damage is done.
Welton Meskin, Contractor
"All that needed to be repaired were the floors and to put back the windows which the guys they broke and repair the roof. But now you are talking about a new house. You are talking about a new brand damn house. We already didn't have money to repair and now it is at zero. We now have to budgeted to build a new house. Its unfair. Its unfair because if we had owed them, or because the yard is bushy, there is a way to go through it. There is a way to go through. Find us then, charge us then, but don't take this down. This is not justifiable. Obviously after the house had caught fire we knew that the house needed to be repaired but we didn't have what it takes to do the repairs instantly. So my godfather told me to have to go through the process and have an estimate. I present the estimate to him and told him I would contact my daugther in America and whenever she sends the rest of the money, I would proceed."
Now there is little to proceed on as almost the entire building is down and the owner and his contractor don't even know who is responsible.
We called the Belize City Council to find out who is responsible for the structure being torn down but were unable to get a response as the councilor in charge of such matters was in a meeting.
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