BELVEDERE–St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation has announced that Phase One of its property repairs is “progressing according to schedule.”
The roof capping and flashings for 44 duplexes and 20 multi-unit properties have been repaired to remedy the damage caused by Hurricane Irma in 2017, Technical Manager Telston Bell said in a press statement.
Duplex repairs are financed by the Housing Foundation and required the residents’ input. With most of the roofs repaired, access is now required to the interior for repair work there.
The apartment towers repairs in Phase One were executed with funds from the Dutch-financed World Bank-administered St. Maarten Recovery Trust Fund.
The Housing Foundation has submitted plans for its remaining projects to the fund with repairs at the top of the priority list.
The roofs of the row houses have been fixed.
“Excellent collaboration” with tenants allow for good progress on Phase Two – interior works. The “valuable input” of tenants is assisting the Housing Foundation to strengthen its communities.
Phase two is in its planning stage and is reliant on the World Bank’s procurement process. The hope is to start in the first quarter of 2019 as long as financing is received.
The second phase will focus on restructuring the roofs and facilities of the five apartment towers, comprising eight units each and the 21 row houses. When these repairs are completed, they will mark the end of the Housing Foundation’s post-hurricane recovery phase.
Housing Foundation Director Helen Salomons said this will allow a shift of focus to other pending projects, the start date of which was delayed by the 2017 hurricanes.
For 2019, Salomons said, “We deem it of pivotal importance that tenants collaborate with us to have this vision materialized in a swift manner … Together let’s focus on the whole process of creating opportunities reimaged.”
The Housing Foundation has maintained the same low rent for the past 22 years; the lowest pegged at NAf. 155 per mont
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/83709-repairs-to-belvedere-units-progressing
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