It could have been one of the saddest Christmas stories we ever reported, a mother and her nine kids put out of the house and unto the street for Christmas. But tonight, there is a happy ending for Lisa Neal. As we've reported, the court evicted the family from its Arlington Drive home on Tuesday morning and last night the family was facing another forcible eviction. But tonight Lisa Neal and her family have a place they'll be able to call home for Christmas. They are in a new house but is this for good? We visited the family in their new home on Louise Bevans Street to find out.
Keith Swift Reporting,
The destitute Lisa Neal who I met on Tuesday morning sobbing on the doorsteps of the house she called home was today in the kitchen preparing lunch, rice and beans was on the menu. And her child who we found wandering aimlessly in the empty house on Arlington Drive was this afternoon watching cartoons and eating lunch beside his siblings in the comfort of their living room. Lisa and her kids left Arlington Drive last night and moved into this freshly painted two bedroom house on Louise Bevans Street. The move is only temporary but she says it feels like home.
Lisa Neal,
"At least I feel at ease because I slept good last night. We moved in last night. I started to just pack up everything and I called Mr. Boots and he told me he would come and move me. He had already showed me the house and everything."
Keith Swift,
Does this feel like home?
Lisa Neal,
"Yes, I could say so."
Lisa and baby Jaylon shared the first lunch in their new home with her area rep. Anthony "Boots" Martinez, who is actually paying the rent, and UDP mayoral candidate Zenaida Moya and councilor hopeful Leila Peyrefitte. Moya and Peyrefitte brought gifts, but the good news came from Boots.
Keith Swift,
Is this the happy ending to this story?
Hon. Anthony "Boots" Martinez
"Well the story is just beginning. At least I am very happy for Miss Lisa Neal and her family. From yesterday I began searching for a house and I came up on this house and I rented it from the lady."
Keith Swift,
Is this a permanent living situation or is this temporary?
Hon. Anthony "Boots" Martinez,
"Its just a temporary situation until about February or March when Miss Lisa Neal will get her house."
Keith Swift,
Some cynics would say this is just political posturing. What would you say to that?
Zenaida Moya, UDP Mayoral Candidate
"Being with the people, being one with the people, always being around the people, caring about the people, fighting for the people---that is something that we, the UDP 11, has learnt quite a lot. It is something that we intend on always portraying when we meet our residents. So to all those naysayers, if it is in the heart, it will come out."
And even as Lisa Neal and her family begin a new life inside their home on Louise Bevans street, even if it is only temporary, the area representative 'Boots' Martinez says this paper, this land exchange document, is proof that when Allyson Baird gave Lisa Neal permission to live in her lot on Arlington Drive, she had a right to do so.
Hon. Anthony "Boots" Martinez,
"Man I have the official document. This document has even the day when it was mailed to Miss Allyson Baird which said, 'I am directed to inform you that the Honorable Minister of Natural Resources and Environment has approved the exchange of Lot 6998a to Lot no. 7313 situated in Port Loyola area of the Belize District. Your new lot number is 7313.' If you go and look and see when Miss Jennifer Ariola got a lease, it was after Miss Lisa Neal was living in that house for over eight months. So I don't know where Dolores is coming from, it looks like she didn't check the record because she said one thing but this doesn't lie."
And while politicians will continue battling out the when's, the where's, and the why's, what matters tonight is that Lisa and her family have a place to call home.
"Boots" Martinez is paying rent for the Neal family and says he will continue to do so until a permanent alternative is found.
