House repairs after Hurricane Elsa 80 per cent done

Almost two and a half years after more than 1 700 houses were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Elsa, repairs are now more than 80 per cent complete, Minister of Housing, Lands and Maintenance Dwight Sutherland has reported.

He gave this update on Sunday night as he reiterated the government’s commitment to providing homes for as many Barbadians as possible.

Sutherland, who was addressing a special joint meeting of the St James South, St James Central and St James North branches of the Barbados Labour Party at Queen’s College, said he was satisfied with the progress being made.

“We were struck by Hurricane Elsa and the freak storm in 2021. Some 1 709 homes [were] damaged,” he noted while indicating that close to 250 families received materials to carry out their own repairs and the government took responsibility for rebuilding and repairing the remainder.

Sutherland, who in December last year reported that the number for repairs and rebuild was about 1 796, told the gathering on Sunday that the cost to the government was now around $120 million.

In March this year, during the Budget debate, he had indicated that all homes which needed to be repaired or rebuilt after the passage of Hurricane Elsa would be completed before the start of the 2023 hurricane season.

However, he said on Sunday: “I stand here this afternoon to tell you that countries that have suffered, Puerto Rico and other countries across the globe, go and check them and see that the minimum amount of time it took them to rebuild from a hurricane is four years. Two years gone and we are more than 80 per cent completed with this housing project.”

Following the damage caused by the hurricane, which impacted the island on July 2, 2021, several homeowners also faced challenges with some contractors along the way.

Pointing to some of the housing projects taking place across the island, Sutherland told the gathering that it was the government’s plan to ensure that every Barbadian desirous of owning a piece of the rock was able to do so.

However, he admitted that the government’s plan to build 10 000 homes over the next five years would not be enough to plug the deficit for affordable housing.

The housing minister said a part of the difficulty will be finding suitable land, and he called on Barbadians “with a good piece of land, come and have a joint venture partnership with National Housing where we can build out a partnership where we can provide housing”.

Sutherland also said he was “on the hunt” for land to give to the Barbados Alzheimer’s Association “so that persons can indeed live a life in this country and get the necessary support”. (MM)