2013 December flood victim receives new home

Having lost her home in the tragic December 2013 floods, Florestine Spring was on Tuesday, April 26th, handed the keys to a 592-square foot, two-bedroom block and concrete house at Cumberland.

The house, which sits on 4,264 square feet of land, complete with electrical and plumbing furnishings and a tiled floor throughout, is due to the collaborative efforts of the SVG ADHOC Committee of Canada, {{more}}the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines and the Lions Club South (St Vincent).

Speaking at the handing over ceremony, representative of the SVG ADHOC Committee June Huggins appealed to Spring and her family to “take special care of this gift,” which was completed on April 19, 2016, after construction began on October 23, 2015.

During his remarks, Minister of Housing, Informal Human Settlement, Land and Surveys and Physical Planning Montgomery Daniel said the Government has done great work after the 2013 floods, building 195 houses throughout St Vincent, with 12 houses at Fitz-Hughes, and 17 houses at Cumberland.

According to Daniel, the government policy is to ensure housing, which is a basic right, for all Vincentians, and so the Government assisted in the distribution of materials to ensure that families can do their own resettlement, because all of the houses were not completely destroyed.

The project was funded by the SVG ADHOC committee to the tune of EC$81,700.98, along with a parcel of land donated by the Vincentian government.

Managing director/CEO of Coreas Hazells Inc Joel Providence, during remarks at the handing over ceremony, assured Spring that the company is prepared to donate the cement and steel for any extension she would like to make, in addition to owning a home.

Providence further informed the mother of seven that Coreas Hazells Inc is willing to contribute, through the Lions Club South, EC$1,000 towards her 16-year-old daughter’s CSEC exams.

Over the duration of the project, Coreas Hazells Inc provided the tiles and grout for the house, the construction of which was spawned from a collaboration between the Housing and Land Development Corporation (HLDC) and the Lions Club South.

Additionally, while speaking at the handing over ceremony, president of the Lions Club South Michael John praised general manager of the HLDC Kenyatta Alleyne, stating that he executed the project with distinction.

Alleyne later said that the HLDC has so far been able to complete over 25 houses across their range of project types between March 2015 and April this year — over 17 of which are located at Green Hill.

“This achievement may be misconstrued to be minor in the wake of the HLDC’s multiple accomplishments of hundreds of houses completed in its successful varied housing programmes,” he said.

Alleyne, however, stated that the house serves to be very significant in the context of the Government’s and the overall humanitarian response to an event, which disrupted the lives of many — both locally and regionally.

Alleyne disclosed that the original design was similar to the surrounding houses at the location for other victims of the disaster.

However, the HLDC thought it would be fitting to ensure that view of the waterscape be afforded to at least this particular resident from this location, a gentle, but much safer reminder of her ordeal in 2013.

During the December 2013 floods, Spring’s entire two bedroom house, constructed from lumber on a concrete base, was washed away, along with all her belongings.

The mother of seven children and three grandchildren will be occupying the house with her 16-year-old daughter, a student of the Petit Bordel Secondary School, her nine-year-old daughter, who attends the Fitz-Hughes Government School, and her 16-year-old son.