“Everyone visiting Dominica in recent times has described transformation of country after Maria as miraculous”

“Everyone visiting Dominica in recent times has described the transformation of the country after Maria (Hurricane) as miraculous and indeed it is we acknowledge that we have not done it alone we are doing it together with global community,” said President of Commonwealth of Dominica, Charles Angelo Savarin during his address in the general debate of the 74th Session of the General Assembly of United Nations in New York, USA on September 27.

Divulging details, President emphasised on Dominica to be on the track to become the first climate-resilient country in the world. He said, “Two years ago when Dominica lay in ruins after being ravaged by the category 5 Hurricane Maria, our Prime Minister honourable Roosevelt Skerrit stood at this rostrum mere five days later to address to this august body.”

He said that thousands of homes have been repaired and rebuilt and hundreds more contracted to be built. New resilient housing units are being constructed all over the island, public utilities have all been restored and all children are back in school as of January 2018 although some schools remain to be built.

“The road network has been vastly improved and most of the damaged or destroyed bridges have been repaired or are being rebuilt to higher standards. The rivers and watercourses have been dredged and greenery has returned to the hills, valleys and mountains.”

President reaffirmed its commitment to the Primus to the Paris climate accord and again plead for release of the resources pledged to implement actions designed to reduce risks and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

“In pursuit of a vision to become the world’s first climate-resilient nation, we have prepared a national resilience development strategy. The strategy is a broad framework which provides the roadmap and guidelines for taking the country to climate resilience by 2030, the targets and plans to achieve them are articulated in greater detail and precision in sector strategies. It is a live document which will be adjusted and updated every four years based on annual monitoring and evaluation, exercises and data, emerging from new studies and surveys,” he added.

Climate Resilience Agency of Dominica (CREAD) which was founded in the year 2018 was the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. the independent agency’s core objective is to fund, design, procure, implement and coordinate climate-resilient projects in the vision of climate-resilient Dominica.

Through CREAD, Dominica will rebuild and repair major roads, rebuild 20 schools and 27 health facilities and provide financial support to 8,500 farmers across the island.

“Financial package totalling 27 million USD has been signed with the World Bank for the construction of an initial megawatt geothermal plant, construction will most likely being early in the new year,” said President.