One of the single largest shipments of supplies for Hurricane Irene relief will arrive in Acklins this evening for the construction of 12 homes, according to National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Director Captain Stephen Russell.
The government approved plans last month to rebuild 19 homes destroyed by the storm on three Family Islands, according to Russell.
He said the 12 homes on Acklins will be built for just over $400,000 and two homes on Cat Island and two on Rum Cay will be built for roughly $200,000 in total.
Russell said all contracts for the construction of the homes in Acklins were awarded when he visited the island three weeks ago.
He expects the work on the one bedroom homes to take four weeks, and three bedroom homes 10 weeks.
"All of the material that is required to build those 12 homes are on this vessel, from footing, concrete, steel, all the way to roofing, shingles, roofing hurricane clips, bathroom and plumbing fixtures," said Russell during a press conference aboard the Lady Rosalind II at Potter's Cay Dock yesterday.
"Through Wednesday night and all day Thursday we are going to offload the supplies into Acklins and most of the items have already been marked for the appropriate contractors."
He continued, "The general public has been most generous to us in terms of the funds they have donated to the program."
According to Deborah Hanna, NEMA's accountant, the organization has received $3 million in funds for hurricane relief.
Members of the public donated just over $1.3 million and the remainder was donated by the government, private sector organizations locally and international organizations, according to Hanna.
She said NEMA has already spent around 95 percent of the funds.
"Those funds were provided for building material, various programs and initiatives to assist the Hurricane Irene victims and today we are well on target," Hanna said.
"The money has been used wisely and we can properly account for [it]."
Russell added that although some residents have been living with relatives since Hurricane Irene last August they are faring well.
"What really caught me is after the signing of those contracts in Acklins persons left that meeting, went to their property and started to clear the area with their machetes," he said.
"That is how excited they were to know this work was going to happen."

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