Government will have to shell out an estimated $37 million dollars to repairĀ houses damaged by Tropical Storm Tomas.
Making the disclosure at a Press Conference at Government Headquarters yesterday, Prime Minister Freundel Stuart said it was an expense for which government had not planned. But with confirmed reports of damage to 1000 houses, and expectations that the number could rise as high as 1 400 or 1500, the Prime Minister said government would be going to Parliament on Tuesday to get a legislative amendment to access the Catastrophe Fund which currently has about $23 million.
Ā He added another $17 million had been sourcedĀ from Ā the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility.
The Prime Minister said storm damage had impacted more harshly on chattel houses in the lower income bracket and āhas revealed a lot of low income housing stock is in a very bad state of repairā.
About $5 millionĀ of the money being mobilised for national reconstruction will go towards payment of rental accommodationĀ for those people whom government had been forced to accommodate in private housing andĀ the few inĀ hotels, as a result of their losing their roofs.
Stuart revealed thatĀ 200 of the 1000 damaged houses will have to be replaced, and remarked: āI have to confess that IĀ was flabbergasted at the fragility of the housing accommodation inĀ Barbados.ā
Questioned about the absence of a building code for Barbados, the Prime Minister said it was āabsolutely necessary to impose building standards in Barbadosā and added that a building code was āactively under considerationā.
MeanwhileĀ a Ministerial Ā oversight committee headed by Minister of Home Affairs and Attorney-General Adriel BrathwaiteĀ has been established by the Cabinet. Also sitting on that committeeĀ are the Ministers of Social Care, Housing, Transport and Works and Finance as well as representatives from the Department of Emergency Management.Ā That committeeĀ which meets next Monday, is mandated to report to Cabinet fortnightly and to the Prime Minister on demand.
The Prime MinisterĀ madeĀ it clearĀ thatĀ not allĀ homeowners with hurricane damage would be entitled to assistance.
āWhere insurance policies have existed weĀ wouldĀ expect the Ā insurance companies to be responsible for the process of reconstruction,ā Stuart said.
The Prime Minister also indicated government would beĀ talking with insurance companies in an effort to secure broader access to coverage for low income chattel-house owners.