ONE year after their houses were firebombed by thugs and two among them killed, more than 40 residents of 44 Walkers Avenue in Gregory Park, St Catherine, including children, are still homeless.

The situation has been causing the fire victims great anguish, and to add to their woes they know not when the new houses the Government had promised to build for them will become a reality.

The Jamaica Observer was told that the delay in rebuilding the houses is no fault of the Government but is rather due to the fact that the death certificate for Naomi Gocul, who was burned inside her house and died 10 days later, has not been generated. Gocul was the owner of the property.

The other deceased person was 28-year-old taxi operator Raneel Haughton, who was shot dead by the men who torched the houses.

Last week Annie Gocul was almost brought to tears when the Jamaica Observer visited her for an update on how she and the others were coping.

As much as her living condition at the moment is uncomfortable, she misses her mother most of all.

“My mother, we called her Miss Sweeny, she was 72. Monday the 12th of August made one year since we were firebombed. On the 12th [of August this year] a lot of memories returned. We cried and all of those things. The main reason why I cried was because I lost my mother. If we had our mother it wouldn’t be so bad. It is very bad because now I have no mother and father. The sixth of August made three years since my father died and my mother died the 22nd of August 2023,” she told the Observer.

“In the meantime, we want somewhere comfortable to live. Anything the Government can do for us to make the process move faster, we would appreciate it. From last year a kotch me a kotch a people place. When the incident just happened we were sleeping outside ,but a young lady put me up and I give her a little something for the accommodation. We don’t have any bathroom, no kitchen, and no privacy,” she shared, explaining that she has to take her showers outside in the open.

“I have a daughter, and we have to bathe outside; most of the times we are in the yard and people just push the gate and come in and see us naked. We would like somewhere comfortable for the time being. All of us who got burned out are kotching all over the place. And not everybody wants you to kotch with them for long; they want you to move along. We are uncomfortable,” Gocul said.

“Because mom was murdered, the process to get her death certificate is taking long,” she said, adding that once the certificate is produced the houses should be rebuilt, according to plan.

One woman, who did not give her name, confirmed that her daughter, who was one of the fire victims, also has to be living with other people. She added that she is happy the dispute that caused the firebombing last year no longer exists.

Alando Terrelonge, the Member of Parliament for St Catherine East Central where Gregory Park is situated, said that the Government remains committed to rebuilding the houses for the people who were displaced.

“The Government stands by its commitment to assist the families in rebuilding homes for them. At this point, members of the team from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) have met with the family on several occasions. The architects have done the designs, the plans are in place, the funding is in place, however, the team from OPM awaits certain documents from the family to proceed with the building phase,” Terrelonge explained.

“At this point it is for the family to get certain documents [but] they have not been able to get them based on personal issues. Just recently they asked me if I could provide them with assistance in securing some of the documents but these are documents that the individuals who own the land have to get. The Government cannot get these documents,” Terrelonge added.

Last Saturday, Napoleon Campbell, the owner of Vashaun’s Funeral Services, shed some light on the difficulties involved in obtaining a death certificate when a person is murdered or dies under suspicious circumstances.

Campbell told the Observer that whenever a person dies from a natural cause at home or at a hospital, and the police are satisfied that there is no foul play, a burial order can be easily obtained. He said relatives are able to apply for the death certificate, and sometimes receive it in a matter of days.

However, there is a considerable difference when someone is murdered, commits suicide, or dies in a motor vehicle crash.

“Those cases have to go through the government system so those certificates take a longer while. After the suspicious death of a relative, family members will get a burial order to bury their loved one, however the death certificate will take a longer time because the forensic report will have to come back — and sometimes a toxicology report and histology are needed before the pathologist makes the final report.

“Then, the police will have to give their report and the case has to go through the Coroner’s Court. The process can even take up to three years,” he said.

“The Government needs to really look into it. The burial order can go so far and no more, and not having the certificate holds up a lot of things like insurance. Insurance companies need the death certificate, and it causes a lot of pain and anguish on family members so I think something needs to be done,” Campbell told the Observer.

Campbell says the process of obtaining a death certificate is longer when someone is murdered, commits suicide, or dies in a motor vehicle crash.