Rebuilt Barbuda should be ’sustainable and resilient’

Last updated: October 3, 2017 at 17:22 pm

A rebuilt Barbuda could be used to demonstrate of climate-resilient design and engineering in the Caribbean if local architects have their way.

Colin Jenkins, a member of the Antigua and Barbuda Institute of Architects, acknowledged that the focus was rightly on the humanitarian situation at the moment.

But added that members of the institute are already putting their heads together.

“We have a possibility of reconstructing Barbuda in a way that’s more sustainable, more resilient to climate change and allow for a more harmonious development of its urban centre,” he said.

“In other words, re-looking at lessons learned from the hurricane and how it would have affected the geography and to mitigate that by planning around it.”

Antigua could also benefit from the lessons learned in building climate-resiliency, Jenkins said, adding that there would have to be networking regionally and further afield to source the necessary expertise.

“This is to ensure that when we go back to build Barbuda it will be a Barbuda that will be notable, it will be a Barbuda that is resilient and it will be a Barbuda that we can be proud of, for the people of Barbuda itself and for the country as a whole,” he said.