Oranjestad- On Thursday February 15th, Central Government Commissioner Mike Franco met with management of the Statia Reconstruction Team. The reconstruction team provides assistance to residents who sustained damage due to hurricanes Irma and Maria which passed over the island on September 6th and 15th, 2017 respectively. The hurricanes left several residents without a roof and others with varying levels of damages to their dwellings.

Franco during the meeting received an update on the housing recovery of St. Eustatius financed by the Dutch Central Government. Project Manager Mel Raboen de Sanchez Pacheco and his team provided Franco with a tour on the site of storage and distribution of building material and other supplies. On location they provided detailed information regarding the efforts to (re)build almost a 100 projects that needs to be completed before the upcoming hurricane season.

The reconstruction project is scheduled to complete all approved projects well before the peak of the 2018 hurricane season. Cooperation has been sought with several social organizations (‘Mega D Youth Foundation’, ‘New Challenges Foundation’ and ‘Statia Pride’) to carry out several community projects to help beautify and recapture the spirit of Statia in colours. As Raboen de Sanchez Pacheco said at earlier meetings: ‘The recovery of this beautiful island comes from the heart.’

According to RCN, more information about the project will be shared within short.