Build Better says TCI Informal Settlements Unit

Hurricane Safety top of mind for ISU 

By Dana Malcolm  

Staff Writer  

#TurksandCaicos, April 11, 2023 – With the Atlantic Hurricane Season now less than two months away, the Informal Settlement Unit is especially concerned with hurricane safety, says Dr. Virginia Clerveaux, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the National Security Secretariat.

We have to be mindful of the fact that the Turks and Caicos Islands, like many other Caribbean islands, are located in a vulnerable area whether it is from earthquakes or hurricanes,” she said in a recent interview with MM regarding the Unit’s mandate. 

“Persons having safe homes because they followed planning regulations that have a code by which you can construct your home to survive a Category three and above storm means that when not if we are impacted the number of persons that will require assistance will be far less if they do follow planning regulations.”

It was one reason she maintained that informal settlements could not be allowed to continue.  Clerveaux has a background as the former 10-year director of the TCIs DDME and evidence gathered there which supports her concern.  Several homes and buildings were damaged in Hurricane Fiona last year, and in previous major hurricanes, most notably 2017s hurricanes Irma and Maria which slammed into the entire chain and left 80 percent of buildings damaged; hundreds were displaced due to subpar housing.

In earthquakes and hurricanes, with our homes acting as primary protection from the elements, improperly constructed homes can become hazards to life.

“That would be part of the message,” Clerveaux said, “Build safe homes.”