Simpson Bay Community Centre is the closest one designated so far
COLE BAY–Much concern was raised by Cole Bay residents about their district being without a designated hurricane shelter as the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season approaches. The concerns arose after government announced the list of hurricane and recovery shelters on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin, who is also charged with disaster management, when questioned by the press about the absence of a shelter for Cole Bay, said in the Council of Ministers press briefing that government has access to five generators at present and wants to make effective use of them while all 13 shelters undergo repair.
“We have chosen five specific areas. Not every shelter has to be open at this specific time, because we want to make sure that they are safe, that they are prepared and that they are accessible for the people of St. Maarten,” she said.
The designated shelter for Cole Bay will possibly be the Seventh Day Adventist Church on Welfare Road. However, the official announcement of the shelter location is to come soon from the Department of Communications DComm, she said.
Repairs on the 13 shelters are scheduled to start with the signing of the contracts with the selected contractor, the supervising engineering company and the National Recovery Programme Bureau (NRPB). The contractor was selected via a public tender and the project is funded via the St. Maarten Recovery and Resilience Trust Fund.
Work on the shelters is expected to begin immediately after the signing and will take 60 working days to complete.
Short works will be scheduled based on a rotation basis to ensure shelters remain accessible during the hurricane season. These works include repairs to roofs, doors and windows; instillation of hurricane shutters; electrical installations (including generators); and sanitation upgrades.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/89441-cole-bay-also-to-get-a-hurricane-shelter
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