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by pltm
(PLTM) - Over 586 persons have sought assistance from the Government to repair or rebuild their homes that were damaged by the disasters of 2017.
This was disclosed by Minister of Health and Social Development, Hon. Carvin Malone, whose Ministry has oversight of the Housing Recovery Assistance Programme.
During a recent interview with BVI Platinum News, the Minister disclosed, “We had over 586 applications made and we have processed a number of those.”
However, he is not satisfied with the pace in which assistance is being granted, and as such, he related that a review of the programme is being done with the aim of improving it.
“We have to find more effective ways in which we can assist a greater number of people in a short time, given that hurricane season is right here,” he stated.
Hon. Malone recently held a multi-stakeholder meeting to review the programme, where discussions centered on getting residents in homes that are “water sealed and habitable.”
The Minister further related, “I’ll be giving an update on that very shortly as to the status and what plans are in motion to come before Cabinet so that we can have it rolled out as soon as possible.”
He noted that as the hurricane season—which begins June—approaches, “We do have a number of persons that are still affected, that cannot get into homes as yet.”
Heavy focus, he stressed, is being placed on continuing “whatever efforts we can put together and the best safest way to have roofs on and windows on, and have it water tight for those persons who cannot get in as yet. We must be able to have people feeling safe.”
The Housing Recovery Assistance Programme was established under the previous National Democratic Party (NDP) Government to assist with the repair of homes through financial grants.
The last House of Assembly (HoA) had approved the withdrawal of $15M from the Reserve Fund to finance the programme, which has so far benefited over 105 homeowners.
Recently, Premier and Minister of Finance, Hon. Andrew Fahie also announced that assistance will be made available for public officers to repair their homes.
