It is about six months since the category 5 Hurricane Irma devastated Anguilla. The volume of widespread destruction has been stunning and came at a time of low economic activity and cash flow.
There are still many roofless dwelling houses across the island with the owners unable to meet the cost of repairs as well as rebuilding in some cases.
Apart from those circumstances, however, there are a number of persons who were in a position to undertake the necessary repair or reconstruction work. Some homeowners have even changed their roofs from wood and galvanize/galvalume to concrete in the hope that the original structures are strong enough to withstand the extra weight.
Some persons are hopefully waiting for possible assistance from public and private sources as part of the hurricane relief and recovery efforts.
In the business community, there has been some movement whereby repairs to a number of buildings have either been completed or in the course of repair or reconstruction. Among them is ABC Supplies – whose roof was extensively damaged but has since been largely repaired. Fair Play Commercial Complex, which houses a number of business establishments, suffered considerable roof damage.
Repair work is now in progress and already the expansive building has taken on an even more attractive appearance. Repair work is also in progress at the Anguilla Great House, where several buildings lost their roofs, and at Four Seasons, CuisinArt Resort and Malliouhana-Auberge – three of the large hotels which were affected by Irma. The Soroptimist building, which serves as a Conference Room and Day Care Centre, had its roof ripped off. Some repair work has begun there as well.
So far, except for the Princess Alexandra Hospital, no restoration or rebuilding work has been done at any of the other Government buildings where the damage has been very severe. The Valley Health Clinic and the Dental Unit are still without their roofs. So too are several school buildings some of which have had to be demolished. The Blowing Point Passenger Terminal no longer exists – having been seriously wrecked by the hurricane to the extent that it had to be demolished.
Those and other Government buildings are waiting funding. Some of them, particularly in education, health and port development, are expected to be financed from a UK Government grant of 60 million pounds (over 200 million EC dollars) for infrastructure development. The funds will not be available until April 1, the beginning of the British Government’s financial year.
Meanwhile, a number of church buildings across the island remain in a state of disrepair following the ravages of the hurricane.
