The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, for the first time, has organized a Resilient Housing Fair to bring together stakeholders operating in the housing sector to showcase their products and solutions for the development of resilient housing in Dominica.
Housing Minister Melissa Poponne-Skerrit who was addressing the ceremony in Roseau on the weekend said the fair is a key activity under the project, data, and systems for resilient housing programs in Dominica.
“This resilient housing fair aims to foster community engagement, increase awareness on building conditions, and provide a platform for learning, networking, and collaboration while offering unique opportunities for the exhibitors and the home-owners to interact and to exchange ideas on resilient housing,” she said. “ And so we are creating a space where building professionals, homeowners, and businesses can deepen their understanding of resilient construction techniques that will ensure that their homes can withstand the effects of violent storms and weather systems.”
Poponne-Skerrit added, “And this is a gentle reminder that our efforts to build better, to build stronger, and to build resilience shall not be in vain.”
According to her, the event represents a follow-up activity to the symposium that was held in March last year on disaster resilience and financing, “as we seek to build on the insights gained in policies, financing models, and methods for effective housing retrofits.”
“I can recall that over 28,000 homes suffered some level of damage in September 2017,” she stated. “… the hope [is] that these homes can be improved to sustain little or no further damage in the event of a storm.”
Moreover, Poponne-Skerrit noted that government has taken the responsibility to provide hands-on action, “showcasing practical, resilient housing solutions, building materials, retrofitting techniques, and resilient construction practices, tools and the resources applicable for enhancing the comfort and the safety of our homes during the passage of any storm.”
She said this event serves as a platform for disseminating practical guidance on strengthening or upgrading existing homes in Dominica.
“It is a great opportunity to also showcase our achievements [in] housing in Dominica,” she noted. “
She mentioned a total of 1,911 hurricane-resilient homes have been constructed and an additional 252 units are currently under construction.
“So our target for reaching 5,000 resilient homes–we are well on our way,” Poponne-Skerrit revealed. “We are at 38 % of this target and we are getting there little by little.”
She said along with the modern resilient housing development program in partnership with Montreal Management Consultants Est. (MMC), “as well as…10 sites under construction as we speak, and this is a total of about 232 homes which we will be handing over keys [to] before the end of 2025.”
Skerrit is another Ibrahim Traore in Dominica.If you have documents in your name for land you get paid.If you do not have documents in your name you do not get paid.Very simple,no bs.UWP think they can dictate to this government with their “we demand” bs,NEVER.
A show lady that, sunglasses indoors and outdoors.
Please pay Wesley people for their land.
These political statements of puppy shows just what they are .microphones seems to be political magnets .while the government has no money or choose to drag their feet in paying fo r acquired lands for project brought about for political gains there is always talk of the government is building houses with the new found phrase Resistance
In all seriousness, I seriously doubt that Melissa knows the meaning of resilient. She uses words such as resilient, sustainable development, artificial intelligence and retrofitting techniques. The lady has brainrot over these terms.
Need I tell you that her handlers wrote every word of the script she read. Everything that is done in public by this lady and her husband is to control the narrative in the media. They are two of the most uncaring, haughty predators.
a house is not a home…this minister is not a home model