The construction of an emergency shelter/resource center in Layou is one step into making the community climate resilient Public Works Minister, Miriam Blanchard has said.
She spoke at a signing ceremony for the $2.3-million facility on Wednesday.
“Our vision was to commence the building of a more climate resilient community and today we are much closer to making this a reality with the signing of today’s contract,” she stated.
She said some of the projects in the pipeline to achieve this vision include the reconstruction of the York Valley Bridge which was damaged in 2011 when the Matthieu Dam collapsed.
“The government of the People’s Republic of China once again show their genuine friendship for the people of the Commonwealth of Dominica with the commitment to replace that bridge at no costs to us,” Blanchard said.
She said that particular project is nearing completion.
“In fact, the bridge was scheduled to officially open this month but was delayed by the passage of Hurricane Maria,” she pointed out.
Blanchard remarked that discussions are ongoing between the government of Dominica and the People’s Republic of China so that work can resume shortly.
“And you will also recall a few months ago in June 2017 the Government of Dominica and Offshore Civil and Marine Inc. signed a contract totaling $5.8-million for the rehabilitation of the highway and construction of river defense north-west of the Hillsborough Bridge,” she said. “Work on that project was delayed due to the unavailability of material in the region and further by the passage of Hurricane Maria. However, I am pleased to confirm that work on that project started earlier this week and will intensify in January 2018.
Yet another idiotic statement from this government. Moving the villagers of Layou from a natural flood to higher ground on the Eastern side would be smart. Constructing a Cable Suspension Bridge, that avoids pinch-points in a river that floods constantly would be even better. Then again, I’m way ahead of the “Brilliant Engineers” on the government’s dime. Labor working really hard.
Hurricane Maria by all accounts was a devised weapon of war designed to to push the one world government/ climate change agenda of the satanists. The US has been ‘seeding’ hurricanes since the 1940’s – http://truthstreammedia.com/2017/10/10/inventor-cloud-seeding-created-weather-weapons-war/
Imagine, if they have been doing this since the 1940’s, what can they do now? And why did they not stop Maria in its tracks, if they have the means to do so.
Getting stuff ‘climate resistant’ is not going to change anything. Skeritt and his traitorous bunch are laughing in our faces.
I am unashamedly Skerrit resistant and that is for real.
“Back to normalcy” and “climate resilient” are the buzz phrases now. Seems like no government minister can uttter a sentence without including one of these phrases. It is becoming a circus now!
Will the bridge be climate resilient
No. It will be destroyed during the next rainy season just like the one, before it and the one, before that and the other one, before that one and so on.
All Skerrit lackeys now using that resilience word like a mantra in their eagerness to show thei leader that the are on the ball. That term is now used everywhere like a fashion, whether it makes sense or not. PM milking that cow ineternationally before it runs dry but I must remind him of the resilient Morocco and layou hotel. Prime examples of his resilient thinking, no?
No building is river/ land slide resistant…..just build a descent bridge/overpass, so that we can escape or bypass this area in an emergency…..thanks!
Id leave that river alone and construct serious bypass
Well if constructing ONE shelter and rebuilding a bridge equates “climate resilience”, Dominica is HARDLY the first country to achieve that distinction. Almost every country on the planet has shelters and bridges that can withstand hurricanes, tornadoes, heavy rain, earthquakes, etc…Wheel and come again Miriam.
This is sad Miriam!!! Damage from 2011?? A Shelter ?? all translate into Climate resilience ? All lies – Truly sad what has happened to our country with these folks at the helm.
You are going to construct a $2 million building and that will somehow that will bring it closer to making it a climate resilient community? Lady you have a LONG way to go before that can be a reality. A lone community centre, even if it is build to withstand a major hurricane does not by itself translate into climate resilience.
I always wonder why some Dominicans don’t think before they open their mouth. Do you know the important of a shelter? Dominica should have shelters in several communities in the Island for the following reasons. ( 1) Its surrounded by waters and you can see the devastating conditions hurricane Irma and Maria left behind (2) Dominica is full of volcanoes (3) every countries in the world have some kind of shelters in case of emergencies, and also earthquakes is another major reasons for shelters. The Condition that these storm left Dominica this is the time the Government must be proactive to secure the Island and prepare the citizens of Dominica for major disasters and be sure the safety of the people comes first. So please stop thinking negatively. I would informed the Government of Dominica to open a position for an emergency preparedness agency to focus on just natural and made man disaster. Some body please inform MO is wrong.
You obviously do not take your advice. Where did you see me in disagreement with building proper hurricane shelters. As a matter of fact, I argued for that very thing in a different post. I am in total support of proper shelters all over the island. Shelters that are properly equipped not only to house people during the hurricane, but to hold them for a while AFTER a hurricane. You will not see me disagreeing with that.
OK. I will say it very slowly, my argument is that there a long way to go from building a shelter and being climate resilient. Whenever this government does anything small, they play it up as if they just invented oxygen.