With housing a major challenge in the hurricane-ravaged parish of Westmoreland, a woman has been accused of deliberately setting fire to a dwelling house in the Grange Hill area last year.

Twenty-five-year-old Kimberly Wedderburn, otherwise called ‘Kim’, a domestic worker of Linton Pen, Grange Hill, Westmoreland, has been charged with arson following the destruction of a dwelling house along Belle Isle Road, Grange Hill, on Friday, December 26.

Reports from the Savanna-la-Mar Police indicate that at about 1 pm, the complainant was with relatives and friends when an argument developed with Wedderburn. She later left the area, allegedly threatening to set the house on fire.

Shortly after, Wedderburn was reportedly seen entering the yard with a bottle, after which a sound similar to a bottle breaking was heard. Moments later, the house was observed engulfed in flames.

The police were alerted, and residents, along with employees from a nearby factory, attempted to extinguish the blaze. However, the house and its contents, valued at over JMD $800,000, were completely destroyed.

Following an investigation and positive identification based on a witness statement, Wedderburn was taken into custody and formally charged.

Her court date is currently being finalised.