Proprietor of Awai's Laundry Mart, Cheryl Awai-Gill, stands next to the unfinished structure of her house on Maingot Drive, Diego Martin, yesterday. Photo: Dilip Singh

By Michelle Loubon

The gentle rumble of the washing machines contrasted sharply with the volatile mood of proprietor Cheryl Awai-Gill.

Reason: she’s claiming that Works Minister Colm Imbert has been giving her the runaround over ownership of a deed and a soft loan to secure and complete the construction on her property at Maingot Road, Diego Martin (just off the highway).

At her Laundry (Awai’s) Mart, on Crystal Stream main road in Diego Martin, Awai, 53, said: “I am appealing to Imbert to make good on his promise and give me my deed and the soft loan, which was promised to me as part of my compensation package.

“He is just hiding under the umbrella of the PNM and is reneging on his part of the agreement."

Awai, a resident of Sierra Leone, Diego Martin, and mother of Zara, Sterling and Waymona, said she was asked to relocate when Imbert announced plans to extend the Diego Martin Highway in 2005.

“Now, based on the way he is treating me, I would tell him to his face he just wanted to get me out; so he could look good for the election with his highway.”

She feels she has been the victim of an uncaring government.

“He just threw me out of my place, and now I am in limbo.

“I am a single parent; I’m a widow. I am struggling to educate my children. I have to pay $3,000 rent. This is no way to treat citizens,” said Awai.

Sequence of events

Awai said the train of events left her “stressed out and hypertensive” and pleading for a soft loan to finish her incompleted house on Maingot Drive began in 2005.

Her husband—Donald Gill—had not yet succumbed to lung cancer.

“He negotiated. He proposed $145,000. Government said they were only giving $50,000. He fought them and he got $80,000 as an interim payment.”

Gill died in 1993.

Awai was forced to pick up the pieces and resume negotiations. She met with two ex-Works Ministers and former Diego Martin Central MP, Kenneth Valley.

“I went to Arnold Piggott and Franklyn Khan. My MP, Kenneth Valley, and I tried to negotiate and come up with a settlement by way of valuations.”

Government proposed giving me a plot of land off Wendy Fitzwilliam Boulevard. But it was unavailable.

So they gave me a plot at Maingot Drive, the sum of $350,000, and the promise of a soft loan.

Anxious to bring some measure of stability to her life and her children’s, Awai began constructing her home.

To date, the structure is a mere shell of her proposed long-term project.

Because of spiralling costs of building materials and a shifting estimate, Awai was forced to solicit Imbert's assistance in securing the soft loan.

“The $350, 000 can only build a fowl coop. How far can it go? The price of cement is about $45-$49 a bag, steel is always raising every Monday morning."

When she approached him, Awai said Imbert was treating her request flippantly.

“I asked Imbert for a soft loan. He said how soft is soft?”

Undeterred, Awai added: “I went to his Maraval constituency and he said he was not seeing me...only his constituents.

“I got Diego Martin Central MP, Dr Amery Browne, to write him a letter, but I got no response.”

On the issue of the deed, Awai said: “If I don’t have a deed I won’t be able to access amenities like water and electricity.”

Awai’s appeals to Town and Country Planning and Land Acquisition have fallen on deaf ears, too.

“I go there, and it’s as if I am talking Greek. It’s as if I never existed. I have suffered for the past three years. I can’t take it anymore,” said a fuming Awai, wringing her hands in frustration.

Valley comments:

“I dealt with it when I was MP. But as an ex-politician, I am staying away from commenting on all political matters,” said Ken Valley.

“But as far as I am aware, the matter was closed. She got what she wanted.”

Efforts to contact Browne and Imbert proved futile. A message left for Browne on his mobile was unanswered. Several calls to Imbert’s land line were met with a busy tone.