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While the Min­istry of De­fence is con­sid­er­ing the Pi­paro Em­pow­er­ment Cen­tre (PEC) as one of the venues to house de­por­tees from the Unit­ed States, the fa­cil­i­ty is cur­rent­ly used to care for vul­ner­a­ble chil­dren.

And res­i­dents in the area are alarmed and al­so fear­ful that their ar­rival could spell trou­ble for the com­mu­ni­ty.

Dur­ing an in­ter­view on Tues­day, De­fence Min­is­ter Wayne Sturge said to man­age an “avalanche” of de­por­tees, the Gov­ern­ment is ex­plor­ing al­ter­na­tive hous­ing op­tions, in­clud­ing the Pi­paro Em­pow­er­ment Cen­tre (PEC). The fa­cil­i­ty, which was seized by the State, was once owned by de­ceased drug king­pin Nankissoon “Dole Chadee” Boodram.