Disaster Reconstruction Authority (DRA) Chairman John Michael Clarke said while the COVID-19 pandemic has a lot to do with the slowed reconstruction efforts on Abaco following Hurricane Dorian, rebuilding has picked up in recent months with more and more Abaconians returning to the island.
An estimated 70,000 people lost their homes and businesses when the catastrophic Category 5 storm hit two years ago, and while he could not say how many Abaconians are on the island today versus in the immediate aftermath of the storm, Clarke said there are more people who are coming back and are staying to rebuild.
“The reason that is a hard question is some people are still transient. There are still a number of homes that have not been 100 percent repaired. We have people that are still away and because of the COVID pandemic, they haven’t been able to go back into the space, get the materials they want (and) now is really the time construction is beginning to take off. I think if we are able to manage ourselves during this pandemic, we will see more construction take place,” he said.
Clarke revealed earlier this week that the cost increase in raw material supplies, globally, and the changing scope of rebuilding efforts, would mean at least $500 million is needed to restore public infrastructure on the parts of Abaco and Grand Bahama impacted by the devastating storm.
He said restoration has already been completed on Leonard Thompson International Airport making it functional; telecommunications have been restored completely throughout those disaster zones; Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) is more than 80 percent complete with its restoration efforts as well as the Water and Sewerage Corporation; and all schools in the zones, with the exception of the schools in North Abaco and East Grand Bahama, have been restored.
“We’ve made things functional for regular operations but there are still some relatively large reconstruction projects that have to take place in the disaster space. If I were to put a value on those, I would say well over $200 million by the time you add in the Grand Bahama International Airport, it’s well over $200 million worth of work on sizable projects that still need to be done,” Clarke said.
He continued, “In terms of infrastructure, we have a new hospital to do on Grand Bahama. A new airport to do on Grand Bahama. You have the Treasure Cay airport that is actively being planned, you have a comprehensive school for East Grand Bahama, a comprehensive school for North Abaco, those are actively being planned and those are big things. And then along with that, you have all of the seawalls and roadways that the Ministry of Works has on their board to get done.”
Guardian Business revealed earlier this week that the DRA has, to date, spent more than $43.6 million on rebuilding projects including small home repairs, clean up and debris/waste management, street light replacement, airport terminal renovations and runway lighting, as well as building modular homes.
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