THERE have been substantial work done to improve living conditions at the housing site for Chinese immigrant workers at Ramsaran Trace, Bejucal Road, Cunupia, reported St Helena/Warrenville councillor Shama Deonarine.

She told the Express yesterday in a telephone interview that public health officers, who have been visiting the site regularly since last week, have been pleased with the pace that officials of Chinese company Beijing Liujian Construction Company (TT) Ltd have been following their recommendations.

’Everyday they’re visiting there has been a vast improvement.’

Deonarine had visited the site on Thursday with the officers after more than 80 of the Chinese workers protested on the Uriah Butler Highway on Tuesday, claiming they had not been paid in two months and of poor living conditions.

The officers had stopped all cooking in the kitchen last week due to the ’deplorable conditions’ they found, and also expressed concerns about the bathroom area and room overcrowding. The Express had learned that six workers were staying in a room 10 feet wide and 15 feet long.

During a visit to the site yesterday officers found that the kitchen area had been cleaned out, the air vents had been cleaned and some tiling had been done. Tiles have begun to be laid in the bathroom and a communal trough for hand washing, and the general site had been power washed.

Deonarine noted that the officers had sent a report to Chief Medical Officer Dr Anton Cumberbatch with their general findings on the site. It will then be determined whether the site is shut down but in the interim officers continued to monitor the implementation of their recommended upgrades.

During a visit yesterday to the barracks the Express was confronted by profanity and threats from people claiming to be security guards at the site. The guards wore no uniforms and one guard in a red T-shirt threatened to destroy the camera of the Express photographer when he attempted to take a picture over the wall of the compound.

’Snap any picture and you go see something,’ he threatened. He added: ’What the (expletive) wrong with allyuh? - See Page 10