Help people in 'a meaningful way' to get back in a place to live- Hon Fraser
Thousands of persons lost heavily due to the hurricanes, with many rendered homeless, while some even lost their jobs. Government had responded to the plight of some by reducing duty on building materials and other items; however, many lack the finance to benefit from the duty being relaxed.
“I heard that Social Development has identified 130 something people/ houses to assist. Well, that is a small percentage of the number of people that needs to be assisted,” Hon Fraser said in his address in the last House of Assembly (HoA) on December 20, 2017.
Hon Fraser also made mention of a young woman who was reportedly found to be living under a tarpaulin in his district, adding that he wanted people to get an idea of what some persons have been going through since the hurricanes.
Involve yourself in a meaningful way
In a direct message to the government, Hon Fraser said, “If we are going to be the government the people elect, not the government you want to be but the government the people expect you to be, they elected you to lookout for their wellbeing. You better be sure to understand that you are going to have to involve yourselves, engage yourself in a meaningful way in getting people back in a place to live.”
He further explained that it will not be an easy task, especially when considering that it is heavily dependent on the honesty of the persons applying for assistance. “How do you discern the level of honesty as to what they are going to do with the assistance when they get it?” he said.
Another difficulty Hon Fraser identified is in the principle of what he called Matching Funds, where persons would still have to find a portion of the money to complete their rebuilding. He said it is possible that persons will just spend the portion the government gives, leaving the portion that was to be covered by their funds undone.
Meanwhile, Minister for Health and Social Development Honourable Ronnie W. Skelton (AL) said in the same HoA Sitting that residents will have access to loans from a $15M fund allocated by government to assist home owners. He explained that the neediest will be looked at first and, "It's not going to be all grants, there has got to be a way that you can afford to pay back something.”
Government has also released the draft Recovery and Development Plan, listing that Human and Social Services needs some $136,493,600, the third largest amount in the plan. It is preceded by business and economy with $262,950,000 and infrastructure with $216,210,000. Governance- $79,669,920 and natural resources and climate change- $25,981,000 followed.
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Suggestion for those who renting. Please buy Renter’s Insurance if you can. If not, try to insure your most valuables such as fridge, stove, computers and any items purchase over $1000.00 dollars. This will give you and others some assistance in replacing items lost in disaster or from thief.