The world recalls the devastating images of Dominica two years ago when Hurricane Maria affected 90% of the housing sector, leaving more than 4,500 houses destroyed and over 20,000 partially damaged. Small island states like Dominica are becoming more vulnerable to disasters resulting from intense rainfall and category 5 hurricanes events with the ongoing impact of climate change worldwide, coupled with volcanic and seismic risks. Since 2011, natural disasters have been negatively impacting Dominica severely every two years.
In response, the Housing Recovery Project (HRP) is a new, island wide project designed to build resilience in the housing sector through supporting safe, owner-driven reconstruction of destroyed houses, across Dominica. Immediately following Hurricane Maria, emergency housing recovery took effect with the assistance of many humanitarian agencies. Building on this, the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica together with the World Bank is officially launching the Housing Recovery Project to reconstruct 676 completely destroyed, small homes (approx. 500 sqft.) of vulnerable people, island wide in accordance with internationally recognised resilient best-practices in engineering and construction, revised building codes and vital safeguards to address environmental, social, health and safety risks.
Successful applicants, those who meet all required Eligibility Criteria and pass the comprehensive screening process, will be provided with financial and technical assistance through HRP to drive their individual, owner-driven reconstruction process. Financial support will be provided in the form of a grant, to the homeowner, with payment releases linked to attaining key construction stages of a safe, resilient new home. This grant, coupled with extensive technical assistance in design, permitting and construction supervision, will enable successful applicants to reconstruct a new core house to resist the effects of intense weather events and earthquakes.