Island Sun Newspaper

Families benefit from Disaster Relief

Chief Minister Dr. the honourable D. Orlando Smith today reported that various households throughout Tortola and Jost Van Dyke benefited from Government relief over the weekend. Food, sanitation supplies and bedding were distributed to 28 families who were affected by last month’s heavy rains and floods.
The Reconstruction Task Force has presented preliminary estimates of immediate infrastructure rehabilitation at a cost of some $6.3m, which includes roads and utilities.
A grant of $100,000 is currently being accessed from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). These initial funds will be used for recruitment of technical expertise, support for clean-up activities and implementation of vector control measures.
The Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) has also been helpful in partnering with the Environmental Health Department, especially in terms of protecting the country from mosquito infestation. Fogging is currently being conducted on Anegada and Tortola where the mosquito threat is most prevalent. Spraying   of stagnant water will   soon commence on all islands where mosquitoes appear to be breeding.
Clean up of the roads continues, but this activity is more or less complete. Priority has been given to the major road network. Currently the Public Works Department is paving sections of the road from Paraquita Bay to Beef Island.
Afterwards, secondary roads will be tackled. Priority here will be areas such as Windy Hill, Cane Garden Bay and Jost Van Dyke.
Considerable rehabilitation work has also been done in the Road Town area. Potholes have been repaired, parking lots have been re-furbished and the roads have been cleaned up.
The engineers from the University of the West Indies (UWI) have concluded their site visits and they submitted an interim report of damage assessment on roads and drainage. Their recommendations for a long-term reconstruction/recovery plan are estimated at some $11.7M.
Finally, the Chief Minister is reminding taxi drivers to stay away from roads in the hills and areas where clean up work is in progress. Under no circumstances should tourists be taken to these areas.