Last night on this newscast Works Minister Anthony Boots Martinez emphatically declared that police had only found one, possibly two fully occupied homes with families on Chetumal Street.
Well, today the Department of Social services went to do its own survey so that it can provide assistance to families in need.
Monica Bodden met Director of Social Services Ava Pennil at the site today - and here's what she told us:..
Ava Pennil, Director of Social Services
"We came out this morning due to the issue of women and children sleeping out in the elements at night, so right now we are looking at those particular families that have nowhere to go. We are doing a complete assessment to see how the department could assist those families. But we need to look at the total needs and see where we go from there."
And here are the numbers that came out of that survey and assessment today. Pennil this evening told us that they are initially focusing on the most vulnerable groups, and those are three families comprising 20 people - 12 children and eight adults. She says these are the only persons presently living on the site in the open air, who have nowhere to go.
She says they hope to have shelter food, water and basic hygiene package for them by the end of the day - providing that they are willing to move from the area. They will receive short term housing and assistance for another three months. Pennil says there may be other families that were displaced when the structures were demolished, but says they are not considered the most vulnerable because they have found a place to stay.
But her department will also reach out to these persons once the most vulnerable 20 are placed and settled - again, providing they accept the offer.
So, 20 people, three families… We consider these to be the most authoritative and reliable numbers coming out of Chetumal Street South because this is what the Social Services Department does - and it has a record of being impartial. We accept that everyone isn't always pleased with the department in distributing relief supplies and the like, but that is another matter for another time.
We note that the 20 is more than the Minister Boots Martinez claimed and less than COLA has claimed. Apart from activists, there were about 25 men, women and children involved in the Belcan Bridge blockage on Tuesday.
