The Rural Development Commission (RDC) and the Urban Development Commission (UDC) have been making a significant difference in the lives of Barbadians, says Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Lands, Patrick Todd.
Speaking yesterday in the House of Assembly during debate on the 2011-2012 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, Todd said those agencies had come to the assistance of Barbadians in the post Tropical Storm Tomas period in a marked way.
He revealed that at February 28, RDC had repaired 19 homes and built 77 new ones. He said this represented over 90 contracts and an outlay of $6.5 million. He said other families had been provided with accommodation at the state’s expense.
The City MP noted this was a major improvement on a situation where on assuming office in 2008 the new Government found a situation where people affected by other weather systems over a lengthy period of time had been still waiting for assistance to be rendered to them.
Todd said he had spoken to the UDC board and informed the membership “in no uncertain terms” that Government could not afford to have millions of dollars “being left on a bank account” when there were people in need of assistance “like yesterday”.
He added that with the recent restructuring of the UDC, it was expected that there would be a 40 per cent increase in output. He said this would provide further earning opportunities for small contractors.
