John Myers Jr., Staff Reporter
THE CONTRACT for the reconstruction of houses ravaged by Hurricane Ivan in Portland Cottage, Clarendon, estimated to cost $200 million, will be signed this month, Danville Walker, head of the Office of National Reconstruction (ONR), told The Gleaner.
"We expect before the middle of January to be signing a contract and right now we are 'bushing' the place," Mr. Walker said Thursday. He was speaking with The Gleaner shortly after the signing of a $1.2 million contract for the rehabilitation of two acquaculture laboratories destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in Twickenham Park, St. Catherine.
INFRASTRUCTURE WORK
"The first thing that will happen (after the contract signing) in Portland Cottage is putting in the infrastructural work putting in roads. The (housing) lots and water lines will start shortly thereafter," he said.
Mr. Walker said the $200 million will be used to construct houses for approximately 500 families whose homes were destroyed in the small fishing community situated on the Vere plains in southeast Clarendon. He said the ONR plans to use pre-fabricated concrete to rebuild the houses instead of using block and steel in an effort to fast track the reconstruction process. The houses will be built on 45 acres of hilly lands in the same area. The ONR head said all the engineering designs have been completed and plans are in place.
POWERFUL STORM SURGES
Hundreds of homes were ripped apart and trees and utility poles uprooted as fierce winds and powerful storm surges wrought by Hurricane Ivan pummelled the island on September 10 and 11, 2004. Eight persons, including three children, were killed as the force of wind and water wreaked havoc on the community.
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson subsequently declared the area a disaster zone and ordered that no reconstruction should be allowed in the community. He then established the ONR to co-ordinate the reconstruction effort.
Peter Espeut, noted sociologist and executive director of the Caribbean Coastal Area Management (C-CAM) Foundation, had blamed the government's neglect for the widespread devastation and deaths of the eight persons in Portland Cottage. Mr. Espeut charged that the parish council was not enforcing the building code and was allowing people to build at their own will.
However, Mr. Espeut has since welcomed the decision of the ONR to rebuild the community on the lands earmarked. "The decision to relocate the Portland Cottage residents who constructed homes in the mangrove wetlands is a signal that we have taken a giant leap forward in our environmental thinking, and in our national hopes for the poor in our country," he said in his article in The Gleaner on December 6.
In the meantime, Mr. Walker said reconstruction of houses in Rocky Point, Clarendon; Barton, St. Elizabeth, and Old Harbour Bay, St. Catherine, should get under way shortly, as the lands have been identified and preparation for construction had begun. He, however, could not say when construction will start.
