Housing Minister estimates the cost of initial repairs to properties damaged in ‘freak’ storm

It’s going to cost the Government some $1.2 million to fix scores of properties including the eight low-income houses destroyed during last Thursday’s freak event that also downed trees, took away roofs and cut water and electricity supplies across the island.

The revelation came Friday afternoon from Minister of Housing, Lands and Maintenance, Dr William Duguid following a damage assessment meeting involving personnel from the Barbados Defence Force (BDF), the Buildings Unit in the Ministry of Housing and Lands, the Urban Development Commission (UDC), the Rural Development Commission (RDC), the National Housing Corporation (NHC) and the Department of Emergency Management (DEM).

“If we assess and that eight increases, then that would go up a little higher. In terms of roofs, some roofs are just half a roof…some are a quarter, some may have u-panels, some may have corrugated panel…so it is difficult to give you a dollar value on the roofs, cause it has a lot to do with the assessment,” Dr Duguid told Barbados TODAY.

He said as information for various other types of assistance continues to flow in, the DEM was still able to furnish the meeting with a list of reports concerning damage and other requests for help.

“We met with the Department of Emergency Management…they gave us a list of all of the reports. We also, subsequent to that, had other reports. We collated all, divided them up for assessment. Those that are houses that need to be repaired in terms of the roofs, we will do that. Those that are houses that need to be totally rebuilt, we are in the process of putting a programme in place to do that,” he announced.

He said Government was also assessing what material is needed for homes which only require material and that work had already started to gather the material.

The Cabinet Minister also disclosed that the Welfare Department has been carrying out its own assessment to determine what other needs people have.

Dr Duguid explained that while in some cases neighbours, friends and relatives have taken in people whose homes were destroyed, the Government was also trying to find temporary accommodation for “one or two” as well.

“So we are trying to fix as many of them as possible. There are quite a few houses that either have the roofs damaged or totally destroyed. The ones totally destroyed…I think the last count there are eight that we are having to rebuild,” he added.

Pointing out that the number of houses requiring roof replacements is fluid, the Minister estimated that there could be about 35 requiring attention.

“Every time that we have a number somebody calls in and then another one adds in. But the last count was about 35. We are going out assessing everything…obviously we are trying to encourage people to do their own with material,” he stated.
(emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb)