Assessment of Housing Damage to be Completed in Two Weeks

The Ministry of Water and Housing is looking to complete assessments and estimates of the damage done to infrastructure in last month’s police/military operation in West Kingston, within the next two weeks.
Portfolio Minister, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, who today (June 8) toured Tivoli Gardens to get a first-hand look at the damage, said that the windows, doors and ceilings of a number of houses needed to be repaired.
He said that others required more extensive work, citing three houses on one street, which were burnt out. The residents reported that the damage was caused by fire, which had spread from one house to the other two.

Minister of Water and Housing, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang, examines a house that was damaged in Tivoli Gardens, in West Kingston, during the joint police/military operation last month. The Minister toured the community today (June 8) , to have a look at the damage to infrastructure.

The Minister told JIS News that his technical team, members of whom were also on the tour, would complete their on-the-ground assessments today. He noted, however, that it could take some time to arrive at a credible estimate of the damage.
“If we do that at this stage of the game we would really be guessing.this needs several number of man hours, days, to look at the real damage and then to look at what would be required,” Dr. Chang explained.
He assured that the Ministry would be moving as quickly as possible to restore the community to normality.
“Many of them (residents), although still going through a sense of shock, seem quite high-spirited and willing to get back in the normal day-to-day operation.
So, really, I wouldn’t put a timetable; what we need to do in the immediate term is try to make sure there is shelter for those who have no shelter and then take it from there to see what we can do to restore some level of normalcy to the homes,” he said.