CBI funded housing project: 38 Dominica families moved to new homes at Bellevue Chopin

The displaced thirty-eight families from the Petite Savanne community in Dominica received the keys to brand new homes in the Bellevue Chopin housing development project of the Dominican government.

The innovative project in Dominica to provide affordable houses in Bellevue Chopin to house displaced residents of Petite Savanne is financed by the island’s citizenship by investment (CBI) programme.

After Tropical Storm Erika over 800 residents were evacuated from Petite Savanne after the area was declared a special disaster area. Bellevue Chopin was selected as the best site to resettle the displaced residents.

The government contracted Montreal Management Consultants Est (MMCE) in September 2016 and launched the Bellevue Chopin Housing Programme to benefit Petite Savanne residents displaced by Erika. The 340-home Bellevue Chopin modern housing development project is being constructed by MMCE utilizing modern building techniques and it took nearly more than two years.

As part of efforts to ensure resilience, all utility lines in the developing community are being run underground. The Bellevue Chopin housing development includes a shopping and office complex, community centre, farmers market, multipurpose playing field and a multipurpose court.

MMCE intends to hold a public event at end of February or the first week of March, when handing over of most of the remaining units will take place.

More resilient housing projects are being developed, all fully financed by CBI and abiding the Build Back Better (BBB) concept, called the Housing Revolution (devised by PM Skerrit in response to Hurricane Maria in 2017) and their most extensive project ever funded by the CBI Unit. Coming up in 2019: Castle Bruce (ready for April 2019), La Plaine (May 2019), Delices (June 2019), Grand Fond (July 2019), San Sauveur (Dec 2019) - all of these are developed by MMCE.

Today, the housing programme has evolved the quality of houses being built. The new resettlement houses have been designed and are being constructed to withstand natural disasters. The government is continuously building fully integrated housing communities to cater to the needs of Dominican residents.

All housing projects are fully financed by the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CBIU) of Dominica through the economic citizenship programme. This series of housing projects is reportedly the most extensive project ever funded by the CBIU.