The two national housing recovery funds set up in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan are being brought under a single roof.
The streamlining would reduce confusion and make the application process simpler, a press conference was told on Monday afternoon.
Governor Bruce Dinwiddy told the conference that he and Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts had been concerned about some confusion between the two existing schemes – the Cayman Islands National Recovery Fund and the Housing Recovery Grant Programme.
There had been fund-raising difficulties, and some people worried the process might have become politicised. In addition some people did not know which scheme to approach, he said.
It was now proposed, as of 13 June, to provide a single source for all housing-recovery services, to make the application process simpler and to enhance the level of service.
It would be to everyone’s benefit that the two schemes were being brought together, said Mr. Dinwiddy.
There would be less confusion and no political oversight or influence, he added.
Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts told the press conference that many people who needed help had either not reached any of the agencies or felt they had not had a response from them as yet.
Some people had told him they were still waiting to be visited and did not know the procedures.
The new move to put everything under one roof would make things as user friendly as possible, he said.
Because there was a need to find a way to help people, there would also be district committees with volunteers going out into the community, he added.
The process would be transparent, independent of who you knew in order to gain assistance, he said.
He did not want people to feel disadvantaged because they did not know the right people, he added.
Designated executive director of the National Recovery Fund Mark Laskin told the conference they wanted to speed the process to help people, to reach out and communicate better with them.
There were still cases of people living in cars or in the same house, he said.
On the fund-raising front, for a probable target of what he suggested was $25 million-plus, resources were needed and were being pursued in a number of ways, said Mr. Laskin.
Money was being sought both locally and elsewhere such as the European Union. US tax-exempt status had also been obtained, he said.
Mr. Dinwiddy said there had been dialogue about finances with the UK for many months.
London had not ruled out providing more hurricane relief, and was supportive of Cayman getting help from the European Union, he said.
Mr. Dinwiddy said he would like to have more direct British assistance, but confronted the problem that Cayman’s per capita income was higher than that in the UK.
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