Gov’t launches housing project on east coast

Rendition of the apartments when completed

The government has officially launched a housing project on the east coast that will benefit a number of communities.

The East Coast Housing Project will comprise of a total of 330 residential units and will benefit the communities of Delices, La Plaine, Castle Bruce, San Sauveur and Grand Fond. Each community will receive two apartment buildings comprising of 33 residential units each.

The units will be made up of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments which will be constructed by the Montreal Management Consultants Establishment (MMCE).

The government said the project forms part of its continued thrust to address the need for safe and resilient housing for families directly affected by the passage of Hurricane Maria

Speaking at the launching ceremony on Wednesday, Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, said contractors have already been mobilized to begin construction.

“These contracts we are talking about, these homes we are talking about are not homes where we intend to sign contracts,” he stated. “These contracts have been signed and contractors have been mobilized to begin construction of these apartments.”

He said by next year 330 families “will no longer be in a vulnerable state.”

“And in addition to that in the east we have assigned 200 homes for the Salybia Constituency to provides homes for the residents of the Kalinago Territory and Atkinson,” the Prime Minister stated. “And contracts have been signed for these 200 homes.”

Meanwhile Project Manager of MMCE, Christopher Timmins said the structures have been designed to withstand hurricanes and seismic forces.

“We are using reinforced concrete. We looked at steel frames, we looked at more traditional methods,” he remarked. “Reinforced concrete is the only material which we feel confident, particularly in areas like Castle Bruce and San Sauveur, where you have a huge sea blast coming in which will stand the test of time and provide the resilience that we need.”

Timmins said that the company will be using impact-resistant glass for the windows of the buildings.

“This will withstand, within reason, trees, branches, coconuts, anything that nature can throw at it, we hope,” he said.

He also said solar water heaters will be installed on each residence.

Copyright 2012 Dominica News Online, DURAVISION INC. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.

Disclaimer: The comments posted do not necessarily reflect the views of DominicaNewsOnline.com and its parent company or any individual staff member. All comments are posted subject to approval by DominicaNewsOnline.com. We never censor based on political or ideological points of view, but we do try to maintain a sensible balance between free speech and responsible moderating.

We will delete comments that:

  • contain any material which violates or infringes the rights of any person, are defamatory or harassing or are purely ad hominem attacks
  • a reasonable person would consider abusive or profane
  • contain material which violates or encourages others to violate any applicable law
  • promote prejudice or prejudicial hatred of any kind
  • refer to people arrested or charged with a crime as though they had been found guilty
  • contain links to "chain letters", pornographic or obscene movies or graphic images
  • are off-topic and/or excessively long

See our full comment/user policy/agreement.

21 Comments

  1. Tony
    June 11, 2018

    Hello and good morning my people. We don’t need apartment buildings in LaPlaine rather we have enough open land where we can build detached single family homes. If you build apartment buildings who will be responsible to maintain the roof ,electrical and plumbing of the building. Build a community like what’s in Bath Estate where people will have pride in their homes.

  2. Rivers
    June 10, 2018

    Thank you PM, another 5 years for you. Up to now Lenox has not done a thing for Wesley and Marigot but he in Colorado sniffing Marijuana oil.

    • Neville
      June 11, 2018

      Is Lennox the PM? Is Lennox a government minister? Has Lennox got a governmental budget to spend?? Ok then! Shut up and talk about things you know about. How about drinking rum, begging, etc.

  3. June 8, 2018

    I tired see pictures :-D :-D :-D

  4. LaPlaine Obsever
    June 8, 2018

    Is he stating that all 330 units will be built by next year? Mr. PM the roads to the east are in the worse shape it has ever been. Where will these heavy equipment machinery and vehicles pass to get to the east? Some areas are only passable to a small vehicle, or Is this simply an election pitch because we are nearing an election. UNREALISTIC

    • MET BONDA YO
      June 8, 2018

      JEALOUS you jealus… Lazy! Go and get work t do when they start building the apartments.

      • Me
        June 9, 2018

        Interesting…. projects are being launched right left and center when our roads and other infrastructure are in dire need of attention. Can’t these apartments wait unti things get back to normal? Where is the river promenade which was promised.

    • UDOHREADYET
      June 10, 2018

      what is wrong man… why do Dominicans constantly obsess about negativity. this is the future… people are thinking ahead.
      why do Dominicans feel the need to keep criticizing and opposing when in fact they are doing nothing to help any situation.
      If its a good idea, acknowledge its a good idea… don’t ignore the idea and start complaining about something else… sad!

  5. Lol
    June 8, 2018

    How can a normal person ever criticize this, well done Labour Government.

    • Neville
      June 8, 2018

      He not worried about roads. Skerrit uses helicopter.

    • Neville
      June 8, 2018

      All those normal people that still think straight and don’t follow YOUR PM blindly. I make you a deal, I bet you a thousand dollars that none of these housing schemes will ever come to fruition. Skerrit shows all you guys fancy pictures and you believe. Remember he promised all you before the last election a new airport, a new hospital, a new hotel near the deep water harbour etc. etc. Did any of it materialise?? I rest my case.

  6. LifeandDeath
    June 8, 2018

    Anybody remember those pretty pictures of the new and renovated Roseau?; the City poised to be the envy of the O.E.C.S?
    By all means I believe something must be done for housing in the entire country, but there needs to be a more sustainable long term plan for achieving this goal.
    These colorful ideas that deal with addressing long term problems with short term “solutions” can be rightly identified or pardonably mistaken as Political ruse, given the history of similar schemes around election time and also given the impractical nature of placing projects such as those in a village setting.
    Dominica is crying for bright ideas and honest intervention from its sons and daughters people…this DLP has proven that they definitely cannot handle or deliver on the requirements for running DA. The suffering and hardship has gone on for too long. it’s time for change.

  7. Hotel without Airport
    June 8, 2018

    Lying to and decieving the people of Dominica is something that has worked for Skerrit in the past, so this time, with the handwriting on the wall, he is giving it one more try. With election around the corner and Skerrit is very fearful, I know he is careless enough to dump a few millions there by sending his Bulldozer to clear the site and dig foundation, just as he suggested that he will dump a few millions on the runway of that foolish international airport of his, though he has no sight in mind. He did not build airport when our population was over 70 thousand is now we are down to about 50, 000 he will build? No doubt Skerrit has money and under his leadership he has touched more money than all previous PM’s. But he has only used our resources to make us poor, so we could keep him in power. The people of Dominica are fedup with his 14 years of lies and as Ian Douglas would say, he fooled us not once, not twice, not three times, so we won’t be fooled again! Out you go Skerrit!

  8. Hotel without Airport
    June 8, 2018

    This gimmick is Skerrit’s way of trying to fool the people of the northeast, because his own poke along with what we see on the ground, suggest strongly that the voters of the Castle Bruce, Laplaine and Grandfond constuencies are going to vote him and his corrupt government out so he trying this apartment thing which he knows will not be built. With or without Maria Skerrit was going to be voted out so and therefore, lying about building three story apartments will not help him. The people of the northeast like their independence to go in and out of their house when they want, without having to be disturbed by their neighbors living upstairs or next door, so that’s a failure right there. Also, this is a time when Dominicans are migrating and, women are not making a lot of children like before, so that’s a bucket that holds no water. In fact before Maria in his own village of VielleCase, people were already running, shops were being closed and the school was down to 31 students.

    • Hotel without Airport
      June 8, 2018

      Lying to and decieving the people of Dominica is something that has worked for Skerrit in the past, so this time, with the handwriting on the wall, he is giving it one more try. With election around the corner and Skerrit is very fearful, I know he is careless enough to dump a few millions there by sending his Bulldozer to clear the site and dig foundation, just as he suggested that he will dump a few millions on the runway of that foolish international airport of his, though he has no sight in mind. He did not build airport when our population was over 70 thousand is now we are down to about 50, 000 he will build? No doubt Skerrit has money and under his leadership he has touched more money than all previous PM’s. But he has only used our resources to make us poor, so we could keep him in power. The people of Dominica are fedup with his 14 years of lies and as Ian Douglas would say, he fooled us not once, not twice, not three times, so we won’t be fooled again! Out you go Skerrit!

  9. Neville
    June 8, 2018

    These contracts we are talking about, these homes we are talking about are not homes where we intend to sign contracts,” Skerrit stated. “These contracts have been signed and contractors have been mobilized to begin construction of these apartments.” Am I the only who can’t make sense out of this gibberish or is our doctor not capable of stringing a sentence together in proper English.
    Another question, how much rent are the occupants expected to pay. I suspect for DLP supporters it’s free.

    • Papa Dom
      June 9, 2018

      There is nothing wrong with you. This is the new Dominica, where one man makes all the decisions and to hell with everybody else. The guy is tired and is accepting of that fact. The poor guy is begging the people for help but they are not paying him mind. Where else in the world do you see those kinds of homes being built in rural communities? No urban, or town planner would recommend such a plan but skerritt by himself, without input from the cabinet of ministers or local experts decides that this is the way to go. What a country!

  10. Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
    June 8, 2018

    Just another lie, another artists rendition that will never comer to fruition the same as the artists rendition of the city of Roseau which Roosevelt said the rest of the world would use as a model to develop their country.

    That was suppose to be when he took Dominica to the next level, or transform Dominica!

    In order to debunk and expose the lie, and the deception to solicit votes, we must first understand the concept of an Apartment building. How it is constructed; we need to be informed people cannot buy an individual unit in an apartment building, since all of the sewer (toilet lines are inter connected),  and their is one water line which is branched  off to serve each unit.

    Assuming the major sewer line is backed up; who would be responsible for cleaning and repairs; who pays the water bill. Electricity/gas are separate!

    So, the question becomes who will be the owner, since the building might be owned by an individual, or a company or government.

  11. Roger Burnett
    June 7, 2018

    A nation’s past is judged, not on academic achievements, but on the artifacts that the people leave behind. One such artifact is the built environment. That is the collective inheritance we leave for future generations.

  12. Way papa
    June 7, 2018

    Trees, branches coconuts? How about earthquake, storms, heavy rainfall? Ti mal, where the country folks going to have their fire place? Their coalpot, their dogs, goats, cows, backyard garden? I thought these building were for cities where land and space is a problem not for country side in paradise? Really people?

  13. James brown
    June 7, 2018

    housing projects of this kind have been a failure all around the world
    just take a look at usa housing projects turned to slums and ghettos
    give ppl individual homes on a piece of land for their self

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

:) :-D :wink: :( 8-O :lol: :-| :cry: 8) :-? :-P :-x :?: :oops: :twisted: :mrgreen: more »

 characters available