Claudine Housen, Staff Reporter
Angie Bent (left), views a photograph of her brother Kipley Bent, who perished in a truck accident along the Gutters main road in St. Elizabeth on Saturday, December 10. The deceased's father, Veron Bent, lends his support. - CLAUDINE HOUSEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
WESTERN BUREAU:
STILL MOURNING the loss of their sons, the relatives of the six Westmoreland men who lost their lives in an accident along Gutters main road last Saturday face yet another challenge - they are not sure how they are going to pay for the funeral expenses.
"Wi no know weh fi begin from, because wi no gat nothing," said Mrs. Sheila Bent. "Wi dis a hope and pray fi God make out some way."
"Wi don't have a start. Wi don't know what to do," the housewife said. Her son 14-year-old, Kipling Bent, was the youngest passenger on the ill-fated truck.
Overcome with sorrow, Mrs. Bent explained that her husband, Veron Bent who is a farmer and their remaining seven children, all of whom are presently unemployed, are not in a position to assist with Kipling's burial.
SEVEN CHILDREN LEFT
"Seven children left and dem no inna job fi help mi," she moaned. "Oh God!"
Facing a similar problem, farmers Aston Gayle and Gerald Beadle, who lost sons Recton Gayle and Kenny Beadle, are also wondering how they will bury their children.
"It rough," Mr. Gayle said. "Some people promise fi help wi to bury him and but mi really no know, I am a farmer and from Ivan pass, mi turn worthless."
Now the sole breadwinner of her family of three, Mrs. Delomie Bowen is also unsure of a future without her husband, the driver of the ill-fated truck.
"To tell you the truth I don't know how I am going to manage without him," Mrs. Bowen said. "I am not sure that I can pay to bury him, but his family has been helping me."
The quiet farming community of Darliston, Westmoreland, was plunged into sorrow and confusion early Sunday morning when news of the deaths of several of its native sons reached the community.
Reports are that lumber merchant, Clifton Bowen, was driving a Leyland truck laden with about 30 tonnes of lumber, when it slammed into an embankment along the Gutters main road in St. Elizabeth, killing Mr. Bowen and five of its seven passengers.
