Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1208901
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 FEBRUARY 2020 NEWS A harrowing existence: prisoner's wife lives in abject conditions waiting for his release A mother of two lives alone with a two-year-old son and a ten- year-old daughter in a house she rents that is squalid and dilapi- dated. Cockroaches scuttle in the drawers and cupboards, even in winter, and the three tenants wash using basins and water boiled over cooktops. The 38-year-old mother says that she is renting the house for €250 a year and admits that it's cheap but the house consists of two rooms - an upstairs bed- room and a downstairs kitch- en-cum-bathroom. "I live off social security, €400 a month. My husband's in pris- on on drug charges," she says, before breaking down in tears. "We've tried everything, I don't know why they don't want to help us." It's an upgrade from living in a car for over two months af- ter the husband was arrested. The two used to live with the husband's mother but they had fallen out since the husband was arrested. "I've been with my husband for six years," she says, adding that he's more than ten years younger than her, being 24. "He's been in prison since Oc- tober 2018. I had money saved but I spent it on hotels, grocer- ies, petrol." She says she cannot live with her mother since she too has very limited space and lives off social security. Asked why she couldn't work, the woman explains that though free childcare would guarantee that she could leave the children in someone else's custody while she works, her two-year-old suf- fers from fits and she constant- ly has to get him in and out of hospital. "I was a care worker for over 14 years. But after a time, the ad- ministrators wanted to see some qualifications and I didn't have any. I was let off despite my ex- perience, despite knowing how to nurse and care for a vulnera- ble individual. "I've tried getting a new job af- ter that but then I had the little boy and had to start depend- ing on social security. It's not enough. We usually rely on peo- ple's charity." The walls of the house are of exposed stone, mouldy and damp. In the winter, it's freez- ing. In summer, it's too hot. The woman cannot afford an AC unit or even a proper fan. She says that during Ma- rie-Louise Coleiro Preca's ten- ure as president, she used to receive €150 in vouchers per month through the Malta Trust Foundation. When President George Vella took over, she was denied help and was told that there were individuals who were worse off than her. "I keep getting the same reply on social housing. I have been on the housing list for over ten years but keep getting told that there are others who need more help than I," she says. €55 a month from her social security cheque are spent on utility bills, she is in arrears on the TV bill, the children manage to connect with a public Wi-Fi from nearby, and other mon- ies are sent to the husband for DAVID HUDSON €55 a month from her social security cheque are spent on utility bills, she is in arrears on the TV bill, the children manage to connect with a public Wi-Fi from nearby, and other monies are sent to the husband for a mobile phone card and other expenses.