Citizenship program helped to rebuild Dominica
Published at: 14/12/2018 10:50 am
Income from the Dominica Citizenship by Investment Programme helped to rebuild the country after the impact of two devastating hurricanes. The first phase of public housing projects, financed by the CIP was handed over to their new owners.
The Tropical storm Erika left more than 1000 families homeless in 2015. It was the deadliest natural disaster in the Caribbean island nation since Hurricane David in 1979. The torrential rain caused landslides and triggered massive flooding. Erika took the life of at least twenty Dominicans. The government started several housing programmes to benefit the residents, who were displaced by the Hurricane. When they managed to sign the first contracts a more devastating storm hit Dominica. The Hurricane Maria reached the country on 18 September 2017. It passed directly over the island and damaged it catastrophically.
Maria destroyed approximately 90 per cent of the houses in Dominica, nearly 23,500 real estates. The number of human casualties exceeded 30 people.
The government introduced several new housing projects for the building of hurricane-resilient houses, in cooperation with the Montreal Management Consultants Est (MMCE). The company started to develop five housing projects across the different strategic locations of the state. These projects help the communities, where hurricanes caused the greatest devastation: Delices, La Plaine, Castle Bruce, Grand Fond and San Sauveur, according to the Caribbean News Now.
The government's project, financed by the income from the Dominican passport program includes the development of two buildings in each location. The buildings contain four three-bedroom units, twenty two-bedroom units, and nine one-bedroom units.
The projects must have some outstanding features to be able to resist the hurricanes:
- Modern and resilient structures designed to withstand storms and seismic shocks.
- Reinforced concrete and decorative roof structures that ensure water tightness and stability.
- The windows are made of impact resistant glass
- Solar water heating structures All projects are entirely financed through the citizenship by investment programme. This series of housing projects is reportedly the most extensive project ever funded by the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CBIU) of Dominica.