Dominican housing project progressing smoothly

Press release

August 14, 2017 at 1:57 pm

An artist’s impression of the housing project.

Roseau, Dominica (TDN)
The Bellevue Chopin modern residential development in the Dominican Republic has now entered an exciting phase where visitors and prospective residents can see tangible progress being made, new buildings rising from the ground, and they can finally begin to imagine that their dream of owning a new permanent home is becoming a reality. Fully funded by Montreal Management Consultants (MMCE), the 340-home Bellevue Chopin development is part of the Petite Savanne resettlement program in the Dominican Republic, a groundbreaking program to relocate residents displaced by Tropical Storm Erika in 2015 and a model for future housing and infrastructure projects in the country. The project is funded by the Dominican Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program and is likely to be the first in a series of new housing programs announced by the Dominican government to be funded in this way. Access to capital is often a barrier to starting new infrastructure, housing or civil engineering projects, and the CBI program is a proven tool to secure commercial investment from the private sector for public sector projects. At Bellevue Chopin, after an initial few months of earthworks and reshaping of the landscape to accommodate the house in a way that fits the local context, concrete construction has begun in full swing. To achieve this, a multinational workforce of local and international contractors was assembled, with equipment and materials brought in from around the world.

Christopher Timmins.

“The role played by various government departments in helping to achieve the current momentum of the project cannot be underestimated and we would not have achieved what we have today without the constant help and assistance of the Minister, Permanent Secretary and their senior staff who have helped and advised us through the various challenges,” said Dr. Anthony Haiden, CEO of MMCE. During this period of significant change for the existing Bellevue Chopin Village, the project has been overwhelmingly supported by existing residents who have welcomed the large number of international tradesmen to their village with open arms and great patience as non-stop convoys of construction materials were delivered to their village every day and 18-hour construction sessions continued at the site. To accommodate the number of workers required to meet this extremely ambitious timeline, a temporary village has been established on site with a population comparable to the existing village, which houses perhaps the busiest restaurant in the country at the moment, serving over 1,000 meals a day. “Thanks to the hard work of all contractors on site, both local and international, we were able to change the expected sequence of handover of the project and are now focusing our resources towards handing over more than 200 new homes in early 2018, instead of the 155 initially proposed, as well as a shopping and office complex, a community centre, a specially designed farmers market, a multi-purpose sports field with a FIFA-sized pitch and a new stand-alone basketball court,” said Project Manager Christopher Timmins. Among the first batch of new homes, there will be a variety of housing types to choose from, from two-bedroom apartments to four-bedroom detached houses. The remaining 140 homes will be completed by the end of June 2018; however, the initial completion is enough to accommodate the vast majority of Petite Savanne residents who unfortunately lost their homes due to Tropical Storm Erika. “The project still faces many challenges, not least the fact that this year has been one of the wettest on record and the rainy season has lived up to its reputation, meaning many craftsmen return home at the end of the day with more rain on their bodies than when they woke up in the morning,” Timmins noted. Other challenges to overcome include the availability of construction materials in the local market and the seemingly insatiable demand for cement across the island, which has required Argos to increase the number of vessels it delivers cement to the Dominican Republic to meet the challenge.

“In order to achieve the project goals, it will require the concerted efforts of contractors, suppliers, utility companies, and local construction industry professionals to be able to provide a sufficient number of qualified professional craftsmen to provide the high level of craftsmanship and quality construction we intend to provide for future residents. However, we are confident that all parties involved are willing and eager to help us achieve the hopes and needs of future residents,” Timmins said.