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Ursula August, daughter of Ernest Roumou, and SMDF Managing Director Keith Franca stand in front of the newly constructed concrete home built for Roumou of St. Peters. The Roumou home is one of the 12 new homes being built by SMDF.
ST. PETERS--Some two weeks shy of ten-month mark since Hurricane Irma at least 25 elderly residents are seeing progress on the rebuilding and repair of their houses thanks to St. Maarten Development Fund Senior Relief Project’s repair programme financed by the Dutch Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations.
Ernest Roumou, a St. Peters resident, is one of two senior citizens so far to have his home completely reconstructed via the SMDF project. His home was destroyed by Irma. He is currently living at the transitional shelter until he can move back into this home. Work at this home should be completed by the first week of July.
Roumou’s home is one of the 12 new homes to be built by SMDF.
“Over the past few months, SMDF has been working almost around the clock, pushing to execute works on as many homes as possible,” said SMDF Managing Director Keith Franca. This push has led to SMDF completing repairs to 23 homes and building two new concrete homes that were destroyed by Irma.
In the coming weeks, the number of completed homes will grow by an additional 28 dwellings. Five new concrete homes are under construction and 12 homes are being repaired. All are expected to be completed by mid-July.
Additionally, SMDF has signed contracts for 11 home repair projects and five full new rebuilds on June 8.
Together, the 25 already-completed dwellings, along with the soon-to-be completed 12 new homes and 16 repair works, total 53 home repair and construction projects led by SMDF.
“We are very proud of our progress in this project and even prouder of our contributions to St. Maarten’s recovery – we hope to continue down this path for the people of St. Maarten,” said Franca.
