It is impossible not to feel a great deal of sympathy for the residents of Dockyard homes who took over the Cottage at the weekend.

The families living in Lodge Point had to put up with poor conditions before their homes were damaged by Hurricane Fabian. The damage forced them to literally camp out in their front rooms because the others rooms in the homes had been rendered uninhabitable. The next move would have been to see them out the door.

The failure of the West End Development Corporation to repair the homes ? almost three months after the hurricane ? then led to the collapse of a ceiling on a wheelchair-bound resident.

Who can blame the families for moving out and taking over a house in far better condition that has been vacant for almost all of the past decade?

And it does make one wonder what the priorities of Wedco are when the Corporation can unveil plans for a multi-million dollar redevelopment of a snorkel park at the same time that their tenants are being forced to live in homes that most people wouldn't house their pets in.

It is not as if the tenants have done nothing to draw attention to the problem. This newspaper reported on the collapse of the ceiling several weeks ago and The Mid-Ocean News did so again on Friday.

And yet, nothing was done, and that sparked the tenants' desperation move.

Wedco is one of the largest landowners in Bermuda. But the condition of many of the homes in the area, aside from Lodge Point, is disgraceful.

At a time when women are living in cars with their children, it boggles the mind that Wedco has failed to effect badly needed repairs almost three months after the hurricane struck.

It is true that the tenants were offered emergency accommodation in Prince Albert Terrace, but they say that conditions there were worse than at Lodge Point. How has this been allowed to happen when the Island is crying out for housing?

Nor is it as if the Bean family and the Crofton family want to remain at The Cottage permanently, in spite of the fact that it was a property fit for a Governor ? and even has its own bowling alley on a nearby island.

As Debbie Bean said, she wants to return to Lodge Point. "We love it there, my children go fishing off the rocks, we camp out with tents. What's not to love about it?"

Of course, it is not possible to approve of the actions of the tenants. It sets a dangerous precedent if people, for whatever reason, feel free to take over unoccupied homes.

But over the years, the community has heard a great deal of talk about what Wedco plans to do, and millions of dollars in public money have been spent on the Corporation's projects.

Now is the time for Wedco to meet the tenants' action with some action of its own by putting their homes into habitable condition.