This house in St. John’s had major hurricane damage to its roof before it was repaired under the Recovery Funds Houses programme.
SABA–The Recovery Funds Houses programme of the Public Entity Saba, financed by the Dutch government, is nearing the end. Close to 100 individuals, four churches and four hotels received assistance to repair damages to their properties after the 2017 hurricanes.
The Saba government confirmed that the registration for assistance under the programme has closed and that requests are no longer accepted. The last requests that were submitted are currently being handled while a few contracts to repair dwellings are still in execution. In total $3.7 million euros were allocated for the repair of private homes, hotels, churches, government buildings and facilities, and playgrounds.
The same house now has a reinforced, hurricane-proof roof.
Close to 110 recipients made use of the available funding to repair damages caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, 45 persons of whom were assisted with materials only.
Contracts were signed for another 45 persons to have their homes repaired, based on an assessment of the damage and an estimation of the Planning Bureau. Out of the latter 45 persons, 13 were also assisted with fixing the damage inside the house, including new doors, windows and kitchen cabinets.
Reimbursements were paid to eight individuals who were advised to repair their homes and to request a reimbursement later. Eight government buildings were fixed, as were four churches and four hotels. All reconstruction funding for the schools were covered by a separate recovery fund.
The Saba government placed multiple bulk orders for construction material abroad to execute the necessary renovations and to assist people with materials, such as galvalume, screws, lumber and doors, paint and spouts.
The first bulk order was placed right after Hurricane Irma, but before Hurricane Maria. The Saba government used its own reserve funds for this first order because quick action was needed to assist people as soon as possible.
There was some delay in the arrival of the bulk orders because of the multiple hurricanes that ravaged the Caribbean and Florida in 2017, which created a shortage of construction material.
The public entity paid for alternate rent for persons who were displaced due to severe hurricane damage until their homes were made liveable again. Funds were also used to demolish four dwellings that were in a very bad state and posed a danger.
The 3.7 million euros were part of the total amount of 23.7 million euros made available by the Dutch government for Saba’s recovery after the 2017 hurricanes. Also received from State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops were an additional two million euros for other recovery purposes.
The Recovery Funds Houses programme started right after Irma and is running towards its end with the closure of registration and the last funding allocation being wrapped up. The finalisation is slated for the first quarter of 2019 with the repairing of the last dwellings.
The principle of building back better and future hurricane proof was applied in all hurricane-related projects. In some cases, part of the roof was rebuilt using concrete to create a safe area in the house.
Also, in all cases the roof and house structures were inspected and strengthened where needed. “Even though this means a lengthier construction period, it is important to rebuild hurricane proof,” said Commissioner Bruce Zagers who is in charge of Planning and Public Works. The focus was to first fix houses before the government buildings.
The pace of construction was influenced by the limited availability of contractors which were flooded with work after the hurricanes. “The priority was to make as many homes as possible hurricane-proof before the peak of the 2018 season,” said Zagers, who explained that contractors moved from roof to roof to repair as many as possible.
In the most severe cases of hurricane damage, people received assistance to replace furniture and appliances funded separately through the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour.
The public entity thanked the Dutch government for making funding available to repair and strengthen as many houses as possible. Saba’s government Planning Bureau and Finance Department played a big role in the programme.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/83050-100-plus-recipients-assisted-under-recovery-funds-houses-programme
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