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House repairs programme picking up

by Anesta Henry
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Minister of Housing, Lands and Maintenance Dr William Duguid says Government is moving full steam ahead to repair and rebuild houses damaged by the recent freak storm and Hurricane Elsa.

However, speaking to the media today during a tour of the National Housing Corporation’s (NHC) workshop in the Pine, St Michael, one of the locations being used to prepare the building material to erect the housing structures, Dr Duguid said his ministry is facing a challenge in getting land ownership issues rectified.

He said some landlords are refusing to give permission for houses to be rebuilt on their properties, while others do not have access to their title deeds, in addition to other challenges.

Dr Duguid said: “Some people, we might actually have to find new locations to be able to reposition their houses, but we are starting with the ones that we can build on their existing lot first and trying to get those done as fast as possible.

“It is not an easy task but we meet every morning…to be able to get a proper response, be it repairs, be it total rebuilds, be it minor repairs, be it materials delivery. And we have I think about 46 people who have already had materials delivered and we continue to develop that.”

Meanwhile, the minister said that while Government will be providing building materials, he is encouraging those affected by the severe weather systems to, if possible, find their own carpenters or artisans to carry out repairs. He said it is estimated that Government will be spearheading an estimated 500 rebuilds, with 400 already being assessed and another 1 400 on the waiting list to be evaluated.

“We are going through those assessments very carefully. So that we know which ones are rebuilds, which ones are minor repairs, which ones are major repairs. But the more that we can get that people give us the material list and they contract an artisan themselves we can get those done a lot faster. So, I am encouraging you to help me help you.”

Dr Duguid said in addition to the NHC workshop, work is ongoing at five other workshops in an effort to get as many houses rebuilt by October, as promised by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley.

When the minister toured the Ministry of Housing’s building division, at Prince Road, Pine Plantation Road, he pointed to uprights for six houses that have already been cut and are ready to be transported to the various locations. He said steel bending is also being done.

“We do as much as we can here in this environment in a controlled setting to produce as many as we can before we then transport them for putting those elements together as quickly as possible. We have done about eight of them now and what we have found is that it cuts down the time almost by half to be able to get the work done on site.

“At the same time, our workers here still have the environment of working in the cool, away from the elements and whether it is raining or not they can still continue to produce and that has cut our prices and cut the time that it would take us to be able to construct these houses.

“It is a work in progress, but it is something that we have come up with in the Ministry of Housing and we are very happy with how it is working so far. Yes, there are improvements that we have to do but we will continue to improve the model as we move forward,” he added. (AH)

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