Dominicans encouraged to view model roof as it tours island

Residents of Portsmouth inspect the roof model

Roseau, Dominica, 28 February 2018— The Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and Investment with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Engineers Without Borders (EWB) continued to partner to advocate for building resiliency in Dominica post-Hurricane Maria. A model roof designed and built by the EWB team will be on display at various locations across the island.

First seen at the Carnival Monday Parade on 12 February 2018, the model roof has been an effective way to engage Dominicans in discussion on building back better. Five model roofs have been built and these, along with the revised Guide to Dominica´s Housing Standards, also advanced by the Ministry of Planning, UNDP and EWB, are critical to advocacy and education for building back better.

“Apart from being a tangible example of a resilient roof, it has been a great communication tool,” says Benjie Hayek of EWB.

“It really gets us great feedback from members of the public who are seeking information from us and who are sharing their Hurricane Maria experience,” she added.

For the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Planning, Mrs. Gloria Joseph, the roof and document complement each other for outreach efforts.

“While members of the public can interact with the mobile roof, i.e. see and touch, they cannot go home with it and so the Guide enables them to reference what they have learnt, not just when they actually have to rebuild but throughout the entire process from planning to buying materials. It is a ready reference they can carry with them in various stages of the rebuilding process and that goes a long way in supporting the efforts of the Ministry,” she stated.

To date, the roof has been displayed at EH Charles and Rudolph Thomas hardware stores in Roseau and Portsmouth respectively as well as the government headquarters and Roseau Market. A town hall meeting was held on Wednesday 21 February 2018 at the Credit Union Hall in Portsmouth, where a cross section of the community attended a discussion on building back better.

Senior Development Control Officer and officer for the North in the Physical Planning Division, Joseph Fontaine, was very encouraged by the feedback from the audience.

“The persons who attended included home owners, contractors and material suppliers, all of whom were affected by Maria in one way or another. They asked pertinent and very technically specific questions, and were very eager to apply the changes we have suggested as they rebuild. So as someone who has to, at some point, inspect their structures, this is very encouraging.”

This week the model roof was on display in Grand Bay on Monday and Marigot the following day and will be on display for the rest of the week as follows:

-Wednesday 28th February 2018: Soufriere at the Christian Union Church from 4:00pm
-Thursday 1st March 2018: Kalinago Territory at the St. Cyr Resource Centre from 9:30am
-Castle Bruce at the Castle Bruce Secondary School from 3:00pm

Other dates and locations will be announced in the coming weeks.

UNDP´s support for the education programme including the model roofs, revised Guidelines and outreach activities has been made possible through a US$3 million grant from the Government of the People’s Republic of China, mainly towards resilient roof construction through procurement of materials and equipment.

This support will be implemented through partnerships with other agencies including four buildings at the Princess Margaret Hospital with the Ministry of Health; five health centres with AmeriCares Foundation; the Dominica State College with the Ministry of Education; and 600 homes for vulnerable households through international partners Caritas, International Organization for Migration (IOM), IsraAid and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

Repairs to the roofs of apartments at Bath Estate and Elmshall will be carried out with funds from the government of India.

Residents of the north attend a meeting on building back better

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14 Comments

  1. boss
    March 4, 2018

    you cannot stop god really

  2. boss
    March 4, 2018

    you cannot stop god

  3. Anthony P. Ismael Minister of Free Pmpers
    March 3, 2018

    Why not provide them with a simple drawing of the design that they can take home and then implement as they consider rebuilding. A simple cardboard design with angles, pitch etc would also be very helpful. Nonetheless, great idea.

  4. Anthony P. Ismael Minister of Free Pmpers
    March 3, 2018

    It all starts at the ports with murderous custom duties and taxes, the cost of fuel plus licensing and insuring those heavy duty vehicles. The entire transportation system has to change, before individual truckers lower the prices that are charged to customers.

  5. Calibishie
    March 2, 2018

    I had the best of galvanized roofing available & installed properly and it survived Maria, the problem now everyone is with out a roof so these thugs came and steal my roof & left me with no metal, what is Dominica coming to!

  6. Tony
    March 1, 2018

    Hello and good evening my people. I need to know if Galvanize is available in Dominica because want to come home and fix the roof of my parent house.

  7. Roger Burnett
    February 28, 2018

    Or better still, find a way of utilising our own resources. Cement and steel are not home grown. Many of the walls built 200 years ago are still standing and whereas galvanized has blown away, many shingles have not.

    • Mastermind
      February 28, 2018

      Shingles not in the picture sir. where I live, we got hit by Irma and all who that had shingles replacing it, a few even putting concrete roof and done with that!!

    • anonymous2
      February 28, 2018

      The rocks are just as good. Same principle.

  8. anonymous2
    February 28, 2018

    I guess that the women would probably have more interest and do a better job of getting the roof secured on their houses, however, it isn’t the roof alone. The whole house has to be secured as a unit and if it is a wooden house, the likelihood of it being strong enough to endure the strength of a hurricane is questionable at best unless it is out of logs. Hurricane ties and steel secured to cemented blocks.

  9. REAL.
    February 28, 2018

    Find a way to lower the cost of Cement, Bricks ans Steel building supplies so people can afford to truly build back better. We are now prone to hurricanes the likes of which we were not prepared for. Wooden houses with tin sheet roofs are now a hazard in this part of the world. I applaud your efforts , but we need to look towards the future big picture and in the case of another hurricane like Maria or worst, this roof will be blown away. It is time to invest in decking and making it easier for people to afford it as well. BLOCK HOUSE IS NOT FOR ONE SET ALONE!!

    • Mastermind
      February 28, 2018

      Good ball you bowl deh but hear that…making materials more affordable not all, transportation is a majorrrrrrrrr killer right now. Imagine you buy 500 blocks and it costing you over a 1000 to transport it country side, what you gonna do??

      The wickedness man do live with them!!

      • UDOHREADYET
        March 1, 2018

        work with your village council to start making blocks in your village.
        Is not everything you have to buy from Roseau, you have to start businesses besides rum shops in your area.

      • REAL.
        March 1, 2018

        You really is a mastermind, I completely overlooked the transportation element involved. like you said ‘ buy 500 blocks and it costing you over a 1000 to transport it country side”. Now this is very true, we all know the charging norms here on island, One price for fuel, another for time and another for labor. I would think that by now we would have someone who specializes in transportation of goods as a business that way we are guaranteed to have a lower rate.

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