Follow the authoritative source for weather information re: Barbados Meteorological Services as Storm Elsa begins to affect Barbados. For additional information on this tropical storm watch, please visit: https://www.barbadosweather.org/windBarResp.php . – Blogmaster
Storm Elsa is Here
Discover more from Barbados Underground
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
349 responses to “Storm Elsa is Here”
-
555dubstreetJuly 4, 2021 6:25 PM
“
your small petty mind marks down everyone with 1 ☆ as you are so bad minded and grudgeful
just imagine how bitter you would be if you actually lived in barbados
or maybe you would realise that you are talking shit
Xxxxccx
Wuhloss lol
Next -
“Next”
we all eagerly wait the next instalment from your fucked up mind
we anticipate..
God hates Bajans for voting BLP
-
555dubstreetJuly 4, 2021 8:12 PM
“Next”
we all eagerly wait the next instalment from your fucked up mind
we anticipate..
God hates Bajans for voting BLP
Xxxxxxx
Yeap
Lawd have mercy
Ha. Ha. Ha
Moving on -
Lol…under your team the GoB built at least 8 houses that nobody can find??
Maybe 100 isn’t the far out of reach for this crew? -
-
NorthernObserverJuly 4, 2021 8:53 PM
Lol…under your team the GoB built at least 8 houses that nobody can find??
Maybe 100 isn’t the far out of reach for this crew?Xxxxxxx
Far fetch for this crew is being nice given that in two years one vendor stall has not been completed
-
Your observation is a ‘public account’, saying 12 stalls have been built and paid for, is ‘public accounting’
-
Here is another example of your lies, you have been shown evidence many times – and it is available if you are interested in the truth – that construction of phase 1 of 3 phases bagan in 2020, you persist in posting it has been 2 years. Are you challenged with arithmetic? Are you comfortable with being a liar? Make you point but do it with integrity for crissakes.
-
Quite lucky!
Engineers’ head knocks PM’s advice to Bajans
by ANTOINETTE CONNELL
antoinetteconnell@nationnews.comPRESIDENT of the Barbados Association of Professional Engineers (BAPE), Trevor Browne, says Barbados was lucky in escaping with the reports of damage to homes after Hurricane Elsa struck on Friday, but he expects the numbers to increase.
He also took exception to Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley’s advice during Saturday’s press conference, when she told Barbadians to get familiar with the complexities of building in order to protect themselves. BAPE has been constantly expressing concern about some poor building standards, the most recent nine days ago after a freak weather system on June 17 ripped off hundreds of roofs.
The tally of 1 178 reports of damage from the hurricane given on Saturday by the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) included 743 houses with roof damage, 62 collapsed homes and 89 damaged.
Late last night, the DEM updated those numbers to 1 908 reports, comprising 1 145 with roof damage, 89 house collapses and 202 cases of house damage other than roofs.
Lots of variables
“I actually think that we have been quite lucky. I thought a Category 1 storm would have caused some more damage but it depends on where the winds are and how much rain you have with the winds. There are a lot of variables. We still have a lot to be thankful for and that it wasn’t worse, though it was worse than it need be if we had proper systems in place,” Browne said.
He added that the problem was the present system allowed individuals to do “whatever they like” when it came to building, rather than enforcing a professional solution.
“I guess that is essentially what the Prime Minister said [Saturday] and she went on to say that the solution is for all Barbadians to get to understand the intricacies of building in Barbados so that they can protect themselves. I do take exception to the Prime Minister’s suggestion or even thinking that this is something that individual Barbadians can acquire enough knowledge to deal with it. It is too complex for that,” he argued.
Browne likened the advice to that of suggesting Barbadians get to understand medicine in order to dispense drugs.
“This is very, very complicated work.
Building is extremely complex and as I explained it, as an engineer of 40 years, if I was going to build a large building I would consult professionals who specialise in that area and I would use their advice in guiding my investment.
So if I, as an engineer, am going to seek expert and professional assistance, I really cannot in all good conscience tell the average Barbadian that I expect them to try to understand for themselves so that they can make good judgement.”
He said Mottley led the review of the
Planning And Development Act with Government officials, the architects association, the engineers association and the Town Planning Society to come up with answers to the problem and a system for a long-term solution.
“The problem is that it is just sitting there like many other pieces of legislation. It went through the Lower House and I don’t think it’s gone any further. That is the problem, not that we don’t have a solution. All that I am saying has been said before by a lot of people, by professionals,” he said.
With the hurricane season already bearing down on Barbados, Browne’s short-term suggestions were hurricane straps and tightening up roofs, which have been shown to be a particular weak area in the housing stock.
“This is a problem that needs mitigation. We know we live in a hurricane zone and we need to build with that in mind. That is long term and the same thing with electricity, utilities.
We need to put more of it underground so at this stage rather than have to build back from 50 per cent being damaged, maybe we can start with 90 per cent still intact, but again that is long
term,” he stated.
Barbados Light & Power reported on Saturday that there were 200 downed poles, 45 blown transformers and one kilometre of wire to replace. Yesterday the utility said that 70 per cent of customers’ electricity had been restored.
Source: Nation -
Disaster option
Govt considers triggering clauses on bonds
by SHAWN CUMBERBATCH
shawncumberbatch@nationnews.com
GOVERNMENT’S INCLUSION of natural disaster clauses in its restructured bonds could now provide some elbow room as the country increases spending to repair Hurricane Elsa’s damage.
The DAILY NATION understands that the authorities are contemplating whether to trigger the mechanism which would allow the suspension of payments to domestic and external bondholders for up to two years.
Sources said Government would have to carefully consider the pros and cons of such an action, given how early it is in the hurricane season, and the possibility another storm may hit Barbados between now and November.
Professor Avinash Persaud, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Investment and Finance, said enforcing the natural disaster clauses was one of the options on the table. He added it depended on Government receiving a payout from the CCRIF SPC (formerly Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility Segregated Portfolio Company).
“To activate the clause in the domestic debt we need a CCRIF payout of any amount, plus an assessed loss figure by CCRIF of at least US$5 million. For the external debt, which is about 15 per cent of overall debt, we need a CCRIF payout of US$7.5 million,” he said.
“The economics team has been examining the possibility of triggering the clauses since Friday and while we will need to weigh up all the issues, we will consider triggering the clauses if the damage and wider circumstances warrant it.”
Government negotiated
the natural disaster clauses with representatives of local and foreign bondholders when Barbados currency and United States dollardenominated debt was restructured in 2018 and 2019, respectively. The instrument did not mean Barbados no longer had to pay the debt, but it allowed the country to delay principal and interest payments due “for two years in the event that Barbados is adversely affected by an earthquake, tropical cyclone or rainfall event under its CCRIF SPC insurance coverage”.
Free up millions
Barbados’ natural disaster clauses in debt instruments are being touted by Sui-Jim Ho, a partner, and Stephanie Fontana, an associate at international law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. They were part of the legal team that advised the Government in its debt restructuring programmes.
In a new analysis titled Sovereign Debt Evolution: The Natural Disaster Clause, they said: “With the natural disaster clause included across its debt stock, Barbados will be able to free up as much as US$700 million, or almost 15 per cent of its economy, in debt service payments, which could instead be spent on emergency response, rebuilding and recovery.
“Barbados is now considered the only country in the world with a climateresilient public debt stock.”
Ho and Fontana noted that while Grenada was the first innovator with its debt restructuring hurricane clause of 2015, Barbados inserted “a variation of the clause into nearly its entire debt stock in connection with its debt restructuring”.
They explained: “All deferred interest amounts are capitalised into principal as they would have come due and the remaining principal amortisations are increased pro rata to take into account the interest capitalisation and the deferred principal payments.
“In connection with the deferral, Barbados must
also deliver a notice to bondholders describing the cyclone, but there is no requirements to provide a certificate from Barbados, a written report from CCRIF or summary reports to the trustee, as are required for Grenada. Barbados is also limited to deferring payments three times.”
The difference between Barbados’ natural disaster clauses of 2018 and 2019 is that in the latter, “upon receiving notice from Barbados that it has experienced a natural disaster and intends to defer payments, holders of 50 per cent of the principal amount of the [US dollar] bonds have 15 days to block Barbados’ deferral”.
Ho and Fontana said this veto right “was included to address bondholders’ concern regarding potential opportunistic or abusive triggering of the clause on the part of the issuer”.
In addition to the natural disaster clauses, Government also has access to an Inter-American Development Bank credit facility that would allow Barbados to borrow the equivalent of nearly two per cent of its gross domestic product, if impacted by a natural disaster.
Source: Nation -
@ David
Don’t bother yourself with angela cox, she’s probably trying to be provocative. After all, she has to perform for her fan clubs.
Recently, market officials held a meeting with the Golden Square food & beverage vendors, during which the stalls were viewed and allocated. Officials also gave the assurance that, ‘if all goes well,’ the vendors would move in by the end of July 2021.
-
Power restored early this morning. Water was restored since Friday.
A good job seems to have been done by all, including the PM, whose communications I was able to hear on my battery-powered radio. I was very thankful for them. I especially commend the PM, who had absolutely no time to mourn the loss of her “twin” brother. She is a very strong woman. She has taken over a country whose economy was in a downward spiral. She saw her efforts to stabililise assailed by the worst health crisis in one hundred years, the worst volcanic ash effects of over one hundred years, the first hurricane to hit the island in over 65 years and a freak storm the likes of which I never heard of in my fifty years of living in Barbados.
Thanks to the good people of Barbados (including myself) Freundel and Co. are not in charge, otherwise only heaven would be expected to help us!
Instead the “devil in white” is doing an admirable job.
Even the Minister of Hair-dos has earned her keep in one fell swoop! Calling out Cow Williams in that way is the most direct shaming of his kind that we have ever had in this country.
I remain hopeful about Barbados but I shall continue to keep piercing eyes and big mout’ on the Government because that is the job of the people in a democracy. That is the ONLY way it works. I shall, however, be honest, fair and reasonable in performing my duty as a citizen.
In short, I shall be as different from Angela Cox, the POLITICAL POX on Barbados as any human could ever be!
-
Seeing as they….. jackass brigade in the parliament…WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE for “cow’s kind” to break laws and do as they like on the island with their ugliness……the least they could do is expose his evil ass…which is not enough obviously…that criminal spent the last 20 years ring fencing those vulnerable people with his trees because his intent is to STEAL THE LAND and all their property leaving their beneficiaries homeless and in poverty…….
as he has STOLEN EVERYTHING ELSE…
if they really want to do something ….they should MAKE HIM PAY FOR HIS CRIMES…..but they can’t because he knows all the crimes they themselves committed against the people and island…
-
-
Feeling great this morning.
Invited my sister and Mom over to spend the day. I cannot understand. I have three very nice women in my life, but somehow the two groups have not been able become one.
Anyhow, you have a great day. I had my usual great start, but it can go downhill ..
Have a great day Barbados. -
Karma is real
Retribution is real
and in extreme cases, they tend to work together…
Miller….Abihah Holder and his mother….only a vicious, spiritless, evil beast would use a deceased child and his grieving mother to lie and deceive the public to win an election..
.then allow the real demon maloney who caused the child’s death to escape accountability…
.then have the mother arrested,
then try to push the criminal down the population’s throat after saying he is corrupt, a criminal and should be in prison…
Karma is real…so is Retribution.
-
“And dis is gine over two years dat dis t’ing hay gine on……….” REFERS TO WHAT?
The situation at the old Fairchild Street market………..
………….or when construction of the market facilities began?
-
Here is what David said
DavidJuly 5, 2021 2:44 AM
Here is another example of your lies, you have been shown evidence many times – and it is available if you are interested in the truth – that construction of phase 1 of 3 phases bagan in 2020, you persist in posting it has been 2 years. Are you challenged with arithmetic? Are you comfortable with being a liar? Make you point but do it with integrity for crissakes
Xxxxxxxx
I think the vendor should know best -
What the vendor said has nothing to do with when the construction of the stalls commenced. The vendor is obviously referring to when the old Fairchild Street market was demolished because it had become a health hazard.
-
“The vendor should know best” about what?
The guy’s comments were vague, as he did not make a SPECIFIC reference to ANYTHING.
But, David IS CORRECT. Your arguments were, construction of the new market facilities was ongoing for 2 years, over $2M spent, not one stall finished and the AudG expressed concerns about the project in his 2020 report.
ALL LIES!
Anyhow, this discussion has gone as far as it could possibly go. So, let’s ‘agree to disagree’…… and move on.
-
Nuff respect for the fishermen taking care of their business.
“Extra precautions were taken. The fishermen from Oistins brought their boats down here and we put extra tyres and tied up the boats properly to the iron bars,” he said
https://www.nationnews.com/2021/07/05/fishermen-relieved-boats-spared/
-
Good to know that Mia Mottley has been guiding us through the crisis since 2018 (national debt, volcanic ash and hurricane). Imagine how we would suffer under Big Sink, the Don from New York, Low and Eastwitch!
Time to proclaim a new national heroine and put her in Admiral Nelson’s place.
-
A personal note.
As a parent, I have often told my son that people are not foolish.Some of the stories he gave me were so outlandish, that I felt it necessary to warm him about insulting the intelligence of others; he had to raise his game and not believe others had no game. His ‘weak story’ could be an easy win for others; I would be supporting him, but my heart would not be in the cause.
Yes, I will give him my full support but he knows I want to be on the winning team and not supporting a lost cause. I believe the young man listened
There is enough out there to work with. ‘Creativity’ is not needed.
-
Theo
Finish your story and tell her straight what you telling her
-
-
-
Uh-oh! Power gone again! Tomorrow I will buy a generator. Promised never to be caught again.
Solar panels in the near future.
My son needs electricity to work.
-
@David, there is one thing about political pimps that never changes … they are always loyal to their ‘Knight’!
Oh, a bit of messed up metaphors there … that was the ‘Pips and Gladys Knight” … but you get the point😎
As @Artax suggests this particular pimp is uber faithful to any and all songs by their leader and will subvert reality completely to try to change history or attack the other leader.
Its annoyingly ridiculous … and I am amazed that s/he does not realize how totally absurd their remarks are at times.
But then again the ‘Emperor has no clothes’ is a tale written almost 200 years ago, so this type of egotistical, absurd lying in the face of all reality is nothing new.
In modern chat, the higher this monkey climbs, clearly way too much of his/her unattractive backsde is exposed!
-
The time frame of the video speaks to a recent taping of Mar 2021
The man cannot be saying two years ago if he was just speaking of the demolition
He was quick to point out that the pandemic had nothing to do with the project
He said he saw ongoing work being done during the pandemic
Two years and not one stall finished in a complete manner for the vendors to be housed -
This is the hurricane seasons
The vendors are still without a finished stall
Govt remedy is to move the vendors in an outside space in meanwhile hoping for a two year project to be finished in four to five months
My observation bodes well to say head not brains -
The metal frame was being taken down in nov 2019
Therefore construction could not have been started for two years .Demolition (first) followed by the start of and continued construction could have been going on for two years
I posted this info already
https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/blog/redevelopment-of-fairchild-street-market/
https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/blog/redevelopment-of-fairchild-street-market/
-
We have to over this matter? Let us move on.
-
How many years does it take to complete a stall
All the distraction and noises does not take away that up to present not one stall is complete from a project that started two years ago
Within a promised time line by govt to have 44 stalls completed with one year of the starting project
This is now 2021 given that govt excuse is the pandemic
I refuse to belive that one stall could not have been completed
I have seen larger projects within my traveling experience completely finished
Those projects started as well during the pandemic and finished in a timely fashion
Here in Barbados transparency and holding those accountable is as far removed as day is from night -
THE disruption caused by Hurricane Elsa could have some implications for the local economy going forward.
A local official said he has to await more information on what transpired and did not want to be too dramatic.
However, he believed that with losses in agriculture, this can set back farmers while construction activity, which is poised to take off, could also be delayed somewhat.
https://www.barbadosadvocate.com/business/business-monday-challenging-times-ahead
-
DavidJuly 5, 2021 4:37 PM
We have to over this matter? Let us move on
As a taxpayer I am within my rights
Also I want to know if any damages occured on the site in respect to the building of the stalls
Govt must be held accountable
Two years and 6 mths and counting for this ongoing project deserves all and any answers
Not so? -
Wassa dan dat!
-
Elsa move in and show up the derelict state of Barbados infrastructure
Roads totally destroyed within hours of a cat 1 hurricane
God forbide if Elsa had stayed on the island for much later
Too much patch work and band aid politics involved
Couple months ago there was flooding on the island and the water damage on street left cracks and holes in areas where govt spend on maintenance had already done repairs or resurfacing of the roads
Examples of gross neglect and inferior accountability
This should not be happening some one should be lock up -
@angela cox July 5, 2021 4:44 PM “Here in Barbadoa…holding those accountable is as far removed as day is from night.”
But angela cox, we Bajans held those accountable on May 24, 2018.
You forget that 30-0 cut tail already?
Lol
-
@ John2
During November and December 2019, the metal frame of the old market was dismantled and removed, while the buildings on the perimeter that were used as toilet facilities were demolished and the area was excavated, cleared of rubble and garbage before being enclosed by wire fencing.
Vendors occupying the outer environs of the old market compound refused to adhere to notices requiring them to move.
Golden Square vendors were informed the market would be closed on Friday, February 14, 2020 and demolished on Monday, February 17, 2020 along with the Fire Service Headquarters and the old NIS building.
The island went on ‘lock down’ due to COVID-19 restrictions from March until July 2020.
Construction of Phase 1 of the new market facilities commenced in September 2020.
This is information that cannot be refuted.
The food & beverage vendors displaced by the demolition of Golden Square were allocated their stalls during a recently held meeting with market officials and at which they were able to view and inspect the stalls. They are scheduled to fully ocupy them by month end.
The lady’s aim is to presistently spread unthruths hoping she would “frustrate the living daylights out of people.”
Another thing, the idiot has never visited the site and is engaging in a discussion about a situation she doesn’t know anything about, and spewing shiite as truth.
We should take the blogmaster’s advice and move on.
-
@angela cox July 5, 2021 5:09 PM “…some one should be lock up”
Someone, the don will be locked up soon, soon. Let us give thanks to our American friends for that one.
-
@ac
You are correct. Spot on.
Accountability is non-existent.
As a taxpayer like you, I would like to know how the GoB could end up spending $124M via Clearwater Bay. (That could built several thousand vendor stalls).
How could a respectful government ‘guarantee loans’ and end up having to foot the bill for nearly every effing one? And not one Shiite in terms of completed construction to show for it?? The guarantees were to restart the FS project.
A boondoggle. As you might say, even a blind person on a trotting horse saw this coming.
Any country that can give up that much relative to it’s overall output, must be thriving. -
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE.
YOU
“There is much to work with. Creativity is not needed.” Or something like that.ME
“There is plenty to criticise without making stuff up!”I see no difference. So….. what was the dust up about????????
This is all Artax and I were trying to say from the very beginning. It is irresponsible to cheer on someone when she is obviously misleading the blog. Artax does a brilliant job of proving that to all but the genuinely foolish or stubbornly foolish.
Unlike you, I have backed down on occasion – when I realised I was wrong, as we all will be on occasion. I do not consider it to be a sign of weakness but rather of strength. I wear it as a badge of honour.
I shall say no more on the matter.
He who has ears and brain, and professes his love for Barbados, let him hear!
It is only THE TRUTH that can set us free!
-
1/1
It is not my intention to tell others what their response to any blogger should be.On my part, if there is truth in what AC says I will support her.
If she is wrong then a dozen will criticize her. There is no need for
me to join the circle of condemnation. I was never one for clubs and will not be joining the scarlet letter club.I am self contained. I do not buy or sell anything. I contribute only when I want to do so.
One thing is certain … Foolish or not, here I come.
-
On Barbados
You will not find me questioning the love of others, but I will profess my own (if/when I choose to do so).There is no desire to match or outdo others. So, I leave the comparison and judging to others as I lack the required tools.
Barbados, have a great day.
-
“As a taxpayer like you, I would like to know how the GoB could end up spending $124M via Clearwater Bay. (That could built several thousand vendor stalls).”
they assign Black people’s money to others based on skin color….if your skin is too dark EVEN IF IT’S YOUR MONEY…it’s too good for you//build you some ghetto looking 2×3 slave-like hut for a house or business place…. and….they have to pick up the YOUR BILLIONS and give it away to minorities under the GUISE OF ANYTHING….dependency tourism is their favorite deceitful dialogue….
.this is what they are paying for right now, not wanting Black people to have what is rightfully theirs…and they will continue to PAY until they learn….which is likely to be never, but they will be gone at the end of it…
-
And to hear people called me all kinds of derogatory names attaching me to party likes is laughable
The govt tardiness to response to those things which are helpful to improving the quality of life for the small business man is deplorable
Reason why I stomp kick and rightfully criticize govt lack lustre efforts
PR and long talk does not add up to any thing
Not one stall completed not having it -
Almost three years and the same voices crying for help are those of the black majority
Don’t see or hear the minority white establishment crying for water or standing on long lines waiting and begging for the severance pay ( as a matter of fact they thumb noses at govt with an attitude of avoidance to pay )
The minority white establishment has been given much financial help and relief in tax waivers and write offs
Even the big cruise industry got to suck off the nipples of govt after given financial relief to sit in Carlisle back
Meanwhile the blacks beg and are told to wait and see and not one stall completed in two years
Not having it -
These comments from the sector are so predictable. Always reactive.
Fragile houses
Insurance execs call for mandatory building code
by BARRY ALLEYNE barryalleyne@nationnews.com
THERE ARE STILL TOO MANY poorly constructed homes and buildings in Barbados, say insurance executives.
The only way to get around it, they add, is for the country to make the long-mooted building code mandatory, thereby forcing homeowners and commercial entities to build hurricane-resilient structures. In the absence of that, it’s time to start retrofitting houses and businesses.
Their sentiments come days after assessments of the damage inflicted by Hurricane Elsa last Friday continue to be undertaken. Up to Sunday night, Elsa, a Category 1 hurricane, had damaged 1 908 homes and destroyed more than 60, some of them uninsured.
Chief executive officer (CEO) of Trident Insurance, David Alleyne, told the DAILY NATION that what Hurricane Elsa proved was that way too many houses built in Barbados were of a poor standard.
“What we need is a mandatory code that would see houses being built to withstand at least the passing of a Category 1 storm. I must say I’m still surprised at the amount of damage we are seeing in our early assessment,” he said.
Elsa slammed into Barbados early Friday morning packing winds of 75 miles per hour that ripped the roofs off houses across the island.
Voluntary
“We have a building code in place, yes, but it is still only voluntary,” the veteran insurance manager said.
“Maybe we do need to get to the stage where it is mandatory for anyone building a house. Our overall housing stock needs to be updated. It is not a good thing where we are as a country that would be in the direct path of a storm. A lot of damage took place. How much it will cost to repair remains to be seen but, for sure, our standards need to be improved,” Alleyne added.
General manager of Cooperators General Insurance, Anton Lovell, said his company had already received 24 reports from policyholders after Elsa’s passing – 20 from residential customers and four from commercial clients.
He, too, said there had been so many meetings of insurance personnel and Government stakeholders over the years, but the country remained in limbo with no mandatory building code.
“We have been calling for a mandatory code for a while now. We’ve had all the meetings, and what we’ve noticed once more is that the standard of building in Barbados is very poor,” bemoaned Lovell. “A number of the houses I’ve seen damaged would not come to a standard where they should be insured.”
He said engineers in Barbados had indicated it would take a little more money for homeowners to properly protect their homes by making them more resilient to Category 2 or even Category 3 storms, but that was when authorities started to back off from making the code mandatory.
“We were very fortunate not to have injury or death from the latest storm, and we know the more resilient houses are, the better off we are in terms of probably losing any lives. From the time people hear about having to spend an extra $1 000 or $500 in insurance, they start to back off. But we have examples where people don’t want to pay less than $1 000 every year to insure a home valued at $200 000.”
Lovell explained that many people felt chattel homes were not insurable or could not be built to withstand hurricanes, but that was not the case. “Once people in authority push the notion that insurance is expensive, then people will not come forward to insure their wooden homes,” he said.
President of the General Insurance Association of Barbados, Randy Graham, who is also CEO of Massy Insurance, said some structures had held firm over the weekend, but still too much damage was observed from a Category 1 storm.
“Barbados does have an older housing stock that we are concerned about. Many houses have roofs with no hurricane straps, and some have long overhangs that can be lifted by strong winds. We’ve also seen evidence of houses being placed on foundation but not sealed.”
He added the discussion going forward could not just be about new building standards or a mandatory code, but also the ability of property owners to retrofit buildings as a matter of urgency. “That is what a country that is directly in the hurricane belt needs,” Graham said.
However, claims manager at Sagicor General, Leo Watson, said it was a bit too early in the damage assessment to be critical of the overall safety of structures in Barbados. “We are satisfied with the standard of buildings within our portfolio as we conduct risk assessments as part of our underwriting evaluation,” he noted.
“While reports on the number of damaged properties may appear to be high, it is important to look at these numbers in the context of the total housing stock in Barbados. In that context, it is probably premature to arrive at any conclusions in the absence of a more detailed investigation.”Source: Nation
The blogmaster invites you to join the discussion.