PETERSFIELD, Westmoreland — Questions continue to mount surrounding the Government’s relocation of residents from hurricane shelters to what were described as improved living conditions, as displaced families and one political representative argue that the new accommodations are not ready for occupancy.

Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie, in a media release issued on May 7, said residents housed in school shelters would be relocated to accommodations “far, far better” than the existing shelters. The minister had also stated that work at the relocation site, where residents are expected to receive container homes, was almost complete.

However, those claims are now being challenged by former residents of the Petersfield High School shelter and Westmoreland Central Member of Parliament Dwayne Vaz, who, on May 8, visited both the new shelter — a teachers’ cottage in Shrewsbury, Westmoreland — and the relocation site, a plot of land about half a mile away where container homes will be placed.