Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves is pleading with contractors to apply for work with the government to repair buildings across St. Vincent and the Grenadines damaged by Hurricane Beryl.
He made the plea as he read on NBC Radio a report from Housing Minister Orando Brewster about the recovery effort.
Gonsalves quoted the report as saying that a challenge is that the ministry was still looking for contractors.
“After putting out the call for two weeks, we received only 24 new contractors,” Gonsalves said, citing the report.
The prime minister commented:
“Contractors, you’re out there, skilled workers, unskilled workers involved in construction, please contact the Ministry of Housing if you want to get involved in the housing programme.
“Please, contact BRAGSA if you want to get involved in the building programme in relation to government buildings, schools and the like and further, clean up and everything. Please.”
Gonsalves reiterated as he had said before Hurricane Beryl struck on July 1, “There is no contractor in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, building contractor, who should be out of work today.
“There is no skilled worker, no unskilled worker who is involved in construction, nobody should be out of work today in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, we have work for you to do. Please come forth. I can’t make it any clearer than that.”
He said Brewster had reported that there were 135 contractors in all the constituencies registered with the Ministry of Housing.
“We need more,” Gonsalves said, adding that some people might say that 135 contractors is a lot.
“But I have over 4, 5,000 houses which I have to repair and build. I don’t have all the money in hand yet, but day by day, sweet Jesus, we will get to it,” the prime minister said. “But the money which I have, I want to spend it. I don’t want to keep it.”
He continued:
“And in big block letters, Brewster writes here, ‘we need more contractors, builders and skilled tradesmen and women, urgently. Come to the Ministry of Housing to register. Please bring with you a valid ID, NIS number and banking information.’
“Because we want to make sure you get your NIS, and we want to make sure that we could pay the money straight into the bank, rather than you have to come and line up for your money.”
The reports said that people whose homes were damaged but were yet to see an assessor from the Ministry of Housing, should go to the ministry and register, taking a valid identification document with them.
The report said full-scale repairs and reconstruction of homes were to begin on Union Island at the end of last week, into this week.
He said that building materials had been taken to the southern Grenadine island but the bulk of it was to be delivered on Thursday or Friday, depending on when the vessel was available to facilitate the shipment.
Another shipment was scheduled for this week.
The assessment team was slated to be on Union Island on Friday to identify and assess more homes for repairs and/or reconstruction and to track the progress of the reconstruction efforts.
“They’re going to work with Ian Wace and his organisation,” Gonsalves said.
“In Mayreau, work is moving apace with Mr. Bruce Wagner and his team,” Gonsalves said, adding that material was sent to address roofing of the essential services buildings on Mayreau.
The Ministry of Housing was preparing a second shipment of building materials to start addressing individual roofing and housing needs, the prime minister quoted the report as saying.
Those materials were to be sent to Mayreau today (Sunday), with an assessment team arriving on Monday to do further assessment.
The reconstruction efforts In Canouan were way ahead of all the other Grenadine islands, the prime minister said.
Slowly but surely the private sector will become obsolete. The PM will become like a God and the poor will become more dependent on the government. ULP will win the coming ten elections and the NDP will be outlawed and cease to exist. May be there will be no more election because of this; and Ralph Gonsalves will declare himself ruler for life. It will all take place right before your eyes.
Plea Mr PM plea. If your government has a good reputation of making timely payments to contractors then you won’t have to pleading. By the way is your pleading a vain attempt at getting sympathy? Your government is so broke that you cannot even find money build a dog.hpuse Donot pretend is contractor.you can’t get. Is money.you dont have.
A month has passed since Beryl and nothing from government perspective to rebuild. Schools are a few weeks away from opening and to date no work is being done on any of the schools on the mainland that lost their roofs. #brokengovernment#
With all due respect, why on earth is the Honourable Prime Minister saying, “In Mayreau, work is moving apace with Mr. Bruce Wagner and his team?” When we have a democratically elected Steering Committee to Rebuild Mayreau, made up of local leaders villagers trust, that committee and that committee alone is who the Honourable Prime Minister and all other government representatives and Non-Governmental Organizations should liaise with, not a foreign developer.
Well, there is lots of charm, entertainment, “rooticalness” and so on day in and day out, but trust is a bitch.
Come on contractors, step up to the plate. Aryo go get pay. E go pay aryo. Dem na go tell aryo go come back. Even though they little low and vindictive with people not known to be in the ulp family and people who na name government pickney… have faith