Scott’s Head housing development nears completion

Scott’s Head, Dominica: Scott’s Head Housing Development is nearing its completion in the Sarine Sarvin area as the minister of Housing, Melissa Skerrit recently highlighted its significant progress during her visit to the construction site.

The project spanning across 12207 square metres and funded by the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) programme, is set to transform the community with modern climate resilient homes. The houses are supposed to complete by late 2024. This project is the part of the government efforts to construct and develop a climate resilient Dominica, which will be the first in the world.

Housing Plan

The aim behind this extensive plan is to build three-bedroom bungalow units and single-bedroom duplexes. The Bungalow units are designed with a spacious living-in-kitchen area, three comfortable bedrooms, two modern bathrooms and a dedicated laundry area along with an outdoor area.

On the other hand, the single-bedroom units consisted a cozy living-in-kitchen area, one bathroom, a laundry area and a shared veranda. All the units are designed with concrete and masonry blockwork considering to withstand the adverse climatic conditions, which ensures safety and durability to all the residents.

The need for this initiative

This initiative is very crucial in the development of the nation as the island every year suffers from severe natural calamities, from earthquake to hurricanes, causing intense damage throughout. This approach will help to overcome the damage caused to the nation fostering better living conditions and a sustainable living.

As of now, the project is estimated to be 95% complete. The remaining work is currently carried out by local contractors under the supervision of the MMC Development, which includes Final interior finishes, MEP fixtures, and landscaping. The development is most probably predicted to end soon and will welcome the residents in late 2024.

Melissa Skerrit during her visit to the construction site highlighted that the Scott’s head Housing Development is not just about building homes but a path to create a community where safety, comfort and modern living combines.

Prior Advancements 

This emphasis on Climate resilience is not a recent event as the government has steadily advancing their efforts since hurricane Maria, continuously growing their efforts for creating a climate resilience nation. Reportedly, hurricane Maria was a major beast which substantially destroyed the nation in 2017.

The government has so far delivered the keys to many residents across Dominica for their new climate resilient homes. The details of all the reported projects are shared in a reverse chronological order. The government recently distributed homes to 73 families as a Christmas gift in December 2023.

Prior to this, in October 2023 the government offered keys to 18 residents in the Kalinago Territory, which was funded from the European union. Additionally, in July 2022, 57 individuals received keys to their new climate resilient homes.

While many other distributions have already occurred, this is also being said that 1500 homes have so far been distributed. The houses distributed were from areas including Bellevue Chopin, Cotton Hill, and Roseau Upper River Bank. The government however aims to deliver 5000 homes to those affected which seems to come to a completion soon with the ongoing project.

Notably, the minister of housing is also consistently looking after the project demonstrating her passion and commitment towards her work. The minister regularly visits the construction sites with her last reported visit to Scott head and Soufriere on 19^th April 2023.

During this visit she noted that the Scott head and Soufriere project has been completed about 65%, whereas the Grand Bay project has a development of 56.25%. the numbers recorded last year have changed drastically this year which is leading to an end for one of the projects.

This initiative by the government is a pivotal step towards the enhancement of the nation and continuing it to be a safe and secure nation. As the country is nearing to its strategy of building a climate resilience nation, this initiative marks as a successful strategy towards overcoming disasters.