PHILIPSBURG – On Wednesday January 23rd, newly appointed Director of the National Recovery Program Bureau, Claret Connor signed a works contract valued at approximately 550 thousand US dollars for the repair of a number of buildings managed by the Sint Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF). Once concluded, the 100 roofs and ceilings in up to 40 buildings will provide complete housing again to families living in undesirable conditions.

As part of a 5 million US Dollars subsidiary agreement signed with the SMHDF, repairs to over 100 homes as well as complex repairs to a smaller number of severely damaged homes will be completed in the coming months.

For this project, Caines Construction and Maintenance Services, was awarded the contract after completing an extensive bidding process, supervised by the Interim Recovery Committee. The SMHDF will be responsible for the supervision of the contract. The homes, located at the Delight, Anna’s Hope, Sugar Mill, FOGA and Careta Estates, were damaged as a result of the passing of Hurricane Irma in September 2017.
The repairs fall under the 55 million US Dollar Emergency Recovery Project. This is one of the projects of the Sint Maarten Recovery & Resilience Trust Fund, which is financed by the Netherlands and managed by the World Bank.

Photo: Prime Minister Romeo-Marlin and National Recovery Program Bureau Director Claret Connor (far right) sign works contract in presence of SMHDF representative Telston Bell (far left) and Contractor Gustavo Caines (second left).