St Vincent government builds homes for residents affected by volcano eruptions

SEARCHLIGHT NEWSPAPER (SVG) FOR NEWSDAY

Prefabricated houses are being built in Orange Hill, in northeast St Vincent, to house some people who lived in areas declared unsuitable for occupation after the explosive eruptions of La Soufriere earlier this year. The volcano is also in the north of the island.

Bush has been cleared from the site, and roads and the foundations of 27 houses are being built.

Officials from the Roads, Bridges and General Services Authority (BRAGSA) said the lots are each about 4,000 square feet in size, and the houses will be constructed so as to let the occupants extend their homes in the future if they wish.

A shipment of building supplies is expected to leave Port of Spain for St Vincent soon and officials expect the houses to be completed by mid-October.

Government officials said after an assessment by a technical team, several homes, primarily in communities north of the Rabacca Dry River will have to be abandoned as they are vulnerable to floods and lahars (mudflows from the slopes of the volcano).

To date, approximately 72 homes have been identified as being unsuitable for occupation after the Land and Surveys Department and the Physical Planning Unit did a mapping exercise.

At a community consultation at the Sandy Bay Primary School last week, town planner Dornet Hull told residents the government delegation was there to “consult with you; we want to hear from you, we want to understand the area, and understand how you feel so we can have open discussion.”

She added, “We have areas that have been mapped out that have been constantly affected by flooding from as far back as 2013. So we have narrowed down the four rivers that are highly impacted from flooding and from lahars.”

These rivers are the Kaio, Noel, Agreka and London, and she said people “have been living in the riverbeds (and on) the river banks, and have been adversely affected.”

Several houses have been either destroyed or damaged over the years and the residents of these homes have been unable to resettle there.

“We are going to zone off those areas and these persons will be relocated,” Hull told the assembled residents. “The forestry department will then come in and plant trees in the areas, and declare it a conservation zone.

“We need you to understand that living in the riverbed is extremely dangerous, for we are in a multi-hazardous country.”

Hull explained those hazards included events such as landslides and flooding, and “everything is a threat to us. We need you to understand that these areas should not be settled, because you will always have to be moving, you will always have to be running.”

She added, “We have some names and we have done several visits and have been able to get the homeowners’ names and we shall tighten up our list and ensure that anyone who is in immediate danger will be relocated, and you will not be allowed to go back to the area to build.”

Maps have been drawn along with a list of residents in order of priority for relocation, for the no-resettlement areas.

Some of the new homes will be constructed on government land, but St Vincent Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said recently that more land would have to be bought from private owners.

Residents of all communities in the red zone, except those north of Owia, on the eastern coast, were given the all-clear to leave evacuation shelters and return home by August 23.

But up to August 25, 1134 people were still occupying 31 shelters in the green and yellow zones of the island.