Roseau, Dominica: Eighteen housing units were handed over to the families in bataca and Sineku by the honourable Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Dr Roosevelt Skerrit, on Wednesday, January 11. 2023 following the incident of Hurricane Maria.  

As per the information, the 11th EDF B-Envelope State and Resilience Contract for Rehabilitation constructed housing units for the people affected by Hurricane Maria. At the time of the handover, Parliamentary Representatives for Roseau- Melissa Poponne Skerrit was also present along with other delegations.

In the recent update shared by the Government of Dominica, it has been officially announced that ‘’to the families of Bataca and Sineku, eighteen (18) housing sections were distributed under the contract of state and resilience rehabilitation after Hurricane Maria’’.

According to the sources, the Dominican government has played a significant role in dealing with the aftermath challenges of Hurricane Maria that hit the nation. 

After the incident of Hurricane Maria, around ninety (90) per cent of the housing and other buildings were destroyed on the Island, a small Caribbean nation of only 70,000 has been on the blueprint to become the first climate-resilient nation by 2023.

The reports have conveyed that Dominica mainly focuses on building a resilient climate framework with the capabilities and power to handle natural disasters and calamities along with level-five hurricanes.

To deal with the Hurricane Maria aftermath and provide better facilities to the people, Dominican Government has initiated a revolutionary project called ‘’Housing Initiative’, which aims to provide housing to the people who lost their homes due to Tropical Erika and Hurricane Maria in the years 2015 and 2017, respectively.

Dominican Jurisdiction has been providing housing in the various sectors of the Island, such as Cotton Hill, Georgetown, Jimmit, Roseau City Square, Bellevue Chopin, Castle Bruce, San Sauveur, Grand Fond, La Plaine, and Delices.

Dr Roosevelt Skerrit further conveyed that the Government has handed over around 1,500 keys of the houses to receiving families who lost their accommodation due to hurricane maria over the past four years.

In addition, the Dominican Government has been building several other housing units in the regions, such as Scotts Head, Eggleston, Canefield, Marigot, and Plat Ma Pierre. 

Prime Minister of Dominica, Dr Roosevelt Skerrit, stated in an event in 2019 that “the Government of Dominica will not take a breath of relief until his fellow Dominicans has a resilient roof over their heads“.

In the end, the Canadian Government offered a hand to help provide funding and investment for the project, which saw the upgrade of the auditorium, computer lab and library, kitchen, cafeteria, guidance and counselling room and washroom facilities.