Local News

Ministry provides housing after Fort Picton fire

15 January 2026
This content originally appeared on Trinidad Guardian.

Tem­po­rary hous­ing ac­com­mo­da­tion was pro­vid­ed to fam­i­lies dis­placed by a fire in Fort Pic­ton, Laven­tille, fol­low­ing in­struc­tions from Min­is­ter of Hous­ing David Lee. The fire claimed the life of pen­sion­er Ver­na Rigault. The ac­com­mo­da­tion was arranged through the Hous­ing De­vel­op­ment Cor­po­ra­tion at a near­by hous­ing de­vel­op­ment af­ter a re­quest for as­sis­tance from Mem­ber of Par­lia­ment for Laven­tille West Ka­reem Mar­celle.

Min­is­ter in the Min­istry of Hous­ing Phillip Alexan­der pre­sent­ed keys to the Rigault and Cabr­era fam­i­lies, grant­i­ng ac­cess to emer­gency shel­ter. The Min­istry said the in­ter­ven­tion was aimed at en­sur­ing the fam­i­lies had im­me­di­ate ac­com­mo­da­tion fol­low­ing the in­ci­dent.

The fire oc­curred yes­ter­day de­stroy­ing two dwellings and af­fect­ing 14 peo­ple. The Min­istry of Hous­ing joined the Rigault and Cabr­era fam­i­lies and res­i­dents of Fort Pic­ton in mourn­ing her death.