A Labour of Love: The forgotten housing project

There is a recovery project done by the government of the Commonwealth of Dominica that is often overlooked and overshadowed by the excitement caused by the resilient housing program. And that is when over 80 percent of houses damaged by Hurricane Maria was reconstructed from the ground up, giving thousands the chance to move back to their original place of abode.

When Hurricane Maria swept everything that was Dominica, everyone thought the country was finished. In fact, Prime Minister Dr. Roosevelt Skerrit was written off as a leader without a country. Total damages were close to US 1B dollars as 90 percent of the houses were either destroyed or damaged. But the worst challenge of all was how to rebuild the lives of 74,000 Dominicans who either lost a family member or looked aimlessly for the missing amidst the stench of death and rubble. 

Two years later, the world is astounded as Dominica recorded the fastest ever recovery to ever hit a nation with a Category 5 hurricane. But the scars are still there. The psychological trauma is still felt to this day and when Hurricane Dorian squeaked by weeks ago, Dominicans coped with the stress of having to relieve what many have called, “The Longest Night.”

Thanks to government efforts led by Prime Minister Skerrit and the Labour Party, Dominica now boasts of a housing revolution that will benefit thousands of Dominicans who lost their homes. Simultaneous to the building of these hurricane-resilient houses, projects ranging from the Dominica-China Hospital to the sprouting of hotels and resorts and the infrastructure development of roads and bridges have accelerated the pace of total recovery.

The rebuilding of damaged houses all over the country is one of the most significant achievements of the government as it started the whole rebuilding process that got people moving again. PM Skerrit, on top of the situation from day one, ordered the national government apparatus to switch from recovery to a rebuilding approach. “Just like everyone whose homes were severely damaged, I too saw my roof blown away. I understand my people’s plight and ordered government workers to put people first and reconstruct whatever they can,” Skerrit told in an interview during one site inspection.

Indeed, government officials, bureaucrats, and law enforcement teams mobilized themselves into a construction workforce that rebuilt more than 6,000 damaged homes in less than a year! To this day, thousands of Dominicans have expressed their gratitude to those faceless workers who made it possible for victims to rebuild their lives in the safety of their own home. “I thought I was going to be displaced from the place I grew up, but government fixed my house and I was able to rebuild my life,” Maudlyn Henderson, a resident of Portsmouth, said in an interview after government workers fixed her roof.

The Labour government not only fixed damaged homes but also included the task of reconstructing and improving damaged water systems, repairing of existing roads and bridges and putting electricity and water back to communities around the country. The fast and efficient response allowed Dominicans to process their personal grief, while community leaders sent by PM Skerrit went around to impart communal therapy to make positive meaning out of the experience.