No visit yet to some hurricane damaged houses – Opposition leader

Leader of the Opposition Godwin Friday, says it is unfortunate that there are persons whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Beryl who have not been visited by the relevant authorities.

A few weeks ago, Dr. Friday criticised the government for “ dragging its feet” with respect to the rebuilding process, contending that people are suffering as a result.

He noted that the Opposition supported the $136 million Supplementary Estimates passed in Parliament on August 22, 2024, to be used to provide immediate relief for persons who were impacted by Hurricane Beryl on July 1, 2024, but noted yesterday September 23, 2024, that apart from the rebuilding process being slow, some people who need help have not been visited for assessment.

“…over two months three weeks and still people have not been able to get the attention they need for their homes,” he said on the New Democratic Party’s New Times programme on Nice Radio.

“Up to this morning I met someone who came to my office, and she was complaining about the fact that her mother’s home had been damaged by Hurricane Beryl and they simply have not received the assistance they expected from government.

“The people haven’t even come and done a check to see what damage was done and to see what kind of assistance can be rendered. They have not had a visit from NEMO or anybody…associated with the recovery and rebuilding effort after Beryl.”

Friday deemed this to be unacceptable.

“We supported it [ the Supplementary Estimates] 100 percent to provide the assistance to people who have been damaged by the hurricane, and to hear now homes have still not been fixed and they don’t even know what is going to happen,” the Opposition Leader lamented.

He said that persons are asking for a time frame for the assistance but in his view, the people are being treated with disrespect.

“Because when you don’t feel that you have to account to people. When you don’t feel that you have to reach out to them and say ‘listen I know that you are hurting, I know you want to get back into your homes but here are the challenges, this is how we are dealing with it’…this is unacceptable and we need to do better than that…”, Friday said, while adding that he is calling on the government to accelerate the assistance.

“It is not a situation where it is business as usual. You are not doing a normal construction project. It is an emergency, so it has to have the required urgency that we need.”

Last month, Minister of Finance, Camillo Gonsalves, said the Supplementary Estimates will not be adequate to build back everything that was destroyed by Hurricane Beryl.

Also, commenting on the issue last month in Parliament, Prime Minister, Ralph Gonsalves quoted figures from the regional disaster response agency, CEDEMA, which shows that the sum of $335 million is needed just for housing.

Speaking about the extent of damage to housing Minister Gonsalves said ”there are some people who may just need a few sheets of galvanize, or small repairs to their homes…there are some people who will need an entirely new house”.

It was also noted that the Supplementary Estimates contain $12 million in income support for farmers and fishers, and $8 million in income support for hospitality workers, particularly in the Grenadines. It was also noted that $13.5 million will be spent to reconstruct public buildings such as schools, police stations and health clinics, while $12 million was set aside in the Supplementary Estimates to feed evacuees and $2 million to supply food boxes to the needy.