The housing sector was dealt a devastating blow by Hurricane Maria on September 18th, 2017 and as we enter the fifth month after the
devastating Hurricane many damaged homes and public buildings are still in a state of disrepair and residents have been subjected to further torture by the inclement weather over the last month, since the temporary covering of tarpaulins has outlived their usefulness.
The Dominica Business Forum (DBF) recognizes a dearth in the information divulged to the public to assist in the reconstruction process and further recognizes the need for all stakeholders involved in the housing and construction sector to develop a coordinated
approach to deal with the many concerns such as; the appropriate procedures to follow for the rehabilitation of damaged buildings, the quality and availability of building materials, renegotiating mortgages, follow-up action with insurances, areas designated unsafe for
housing development, among many others.
Having identified the numerous issues affecting the reconstruction process, the Dominica Business Forum (DBF) has taken the initiative to convene a National Symposium on Housing and Construction under the theme; Practical And Sustainable Solutions To The Challenges Of Hurricane Maria: A Private Sector Response on Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th January, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Windsor Park Stadium.
The format of the symposium will be in two parts, a main conference area to accommodate an audience of 200 hundred persons, will have presentations and panel discussions on a wide range of relevant topics such as; Dominica the First Climate Resilient Country in the World by a representative of the government of Dominica, Vulnerable Communities, the Building Code, recommendations for improvements to the housing stock, an international panel of agencies on island, mortgage financing and insurance coverage in the post Hurricane Maria era, among others.
The second part of the symposium is, what is referred to, a shopping mall of information and education where the private sector and public sector service providers will make themselves available to share information with the general public on how best to rebuild their properties and restore their lives to a certain level of normalcy.
An open invitation is extended to all the professionals including architects, engineers, lawyers, Doctors, builders, contractors, material suppliers, furniture and appliance suppliers, utility services, relevant government departments and all those who contribute to the livelihood of the population, to participate in the symposium.
The target audience for the symposium is the thousands of homeowners who have suffered various levels of loss from the devastation of Hurricane Maria and who are traumatized.
The symposium is intended to serve as a clinic to give guidance to the homeowners on how best to proceed with the rehabilitation of their homes, what assistance is available and where they should access such assistance.
The Dominica Business Forum considers this initiative to be therapeutic to the healing process in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria where all professionals, businesses and institutions involved in the housing and construction sector, directly or indirectly, should participate in bringing comfort to the citizens of Dominica who have suffered extensively since the hurricane.
The Symposium will also focus on the 2018 Hurricane Season which begins on June 1st, a mere four months away, for which the predictions are not encouraging.
The Dominica Business Forum is appealing to all service providers to participate in the symposium by taking some time off to inform and educate the Dominican citizens of their services and products and a further appeal goes out to the general public, particularly
homeowners, to come to the Windsor Park Stadium on Wednesday 24th and Friday 25th January, 2018 to be informed and educated on coping with the aftermath of Maria.
The news media are encouraged to assist in divulging information to the public about the event. A successful symposium will bring benefits to the entire nation at a time when our faith and determination to succeed are being challenged. We are therefore guided by words of the scripture: “If you are willing to listen, you will learn and become wise”, (Eccles. 6:32), thus the social and moral responsibility to inform and educate the population.
Are you in Dominica assisting with the reconstruction process?
This was a question to Winston Warrington.
Was there. Looking fora place to stay. Will be back soon.&
In Dominica I have come to notice that there are a number of splinter organisations within the private sector and none of them can stand on their own two feet and the executive members of these organisations do not work full-time for these organisations.
There is the DAIC and the DEF which should be spearheading all of these splinter groups including the DHTA and the manufacturing association . This gentleman as president of the DBF wears too many voluntary hats. This man was all over Dominica making HIS money $$$ assessing houses for people – that tells you he does not have person s employed in his firm with that competence for him to devote greater attention to the DBF.
I think it is high time that an organisation such as the DBF have full-time persons that can study and make sound proposals to Government towards advancing Dominica. Think of it 4 months after the hurricane you coming with this symposium with very little publicity and only to be held in Roseau! My goodness.
The stupidity and ignorance of these types is a serious hindrance to the development of Dominica. He knows the meaning of an umbrella organization with the same DHTA,DAIC, DEF and others he refer to?
SMH
By the way, we do not have the time for all this authoritarian posturing; the structures designed by these talkers all folded. This year’s hurricane season is expected to be as destructive or worse than 2017. Stop all the talk, we need action.
Winston you should be on the ground then your words would have some credibility. This is where real action comes.
Every one is getting into the act. The public is overwhelmed by excess information, consultation and conference without receiving the most poignant fact exposed by the hurricane. Shoddy workmanship – not architecture nor engineering – was responsible for the majority of the buildings damaged during the storm. Are we going to build structures (particularly roofs) engineered to withstand wind gust pressure resultant from 200 mph wind speed? This would sharply increase the cost of construction in the country.
The number of recovered unpainted galvanized steel sheets collected in heaps around the island is evidence of poor connections and where the roof sheathing was inadequate the interior of the structures were inundated by water. So if the public could be informed that the roofing (galvanize sheets) and the roof diaphragm (sheathing) must be meticulously attached to the supporting structure by employing the right type of shank nails or screws, we could start repairing our roofs.