It was notable that the Cayman Contractors Association reached an agreement with the Cayman Islands Government whereby they will provide construction services at fixed rates on properties in Cayman Brac damaged by the passing of Hurricane Paloma.
While there is still some question whether property insurers will accept the rates for purposes of determining replacement cost for repairs made, the fixed rates will nonetheless help bring structure and speed to the recovery process on Cayman Brac.
The Government and the homeowners contracting repairs under the fixed rates will have the comfort of knowing the price they are paying for construction services is a fair one that was determined through the coordinated efforts of the CCA, the Public Works Department and the private sector company BCQS.
Many homeowners on Grand Cayman will remember some of the inflated construction rates they had to pay to repair damage caused by Hurricane Ivan after it passed in September 2004 as some unscrupulous businesspeople tried to cash in on the misfortune of others.
Just as distressing, some unqualified people suddenly entered the construction business as contractors in an effort to get a piece of the recovery pie, leading to shoddy workmanship, and in some cases, uncompleted repairs.
While all of this is still possible on Cayman Brac – for homeowners are under no obligation to use CCA member contractors to complete their repairs – getting the CCA to agree to standardised rates is an important step in minimising any abuses. This is vital for many reasons.
First, the people of Cayman Brac earn considerably less than the people of Grand Cayman and they simply cannot afford to be gouged by those looking to make a quick dollar.
Secondly, with Cayman Government’s recent budget slashing moves, it is not in a position to overpay for Cayman Brac’s recovery.
At the same time, however, Government must take additional steps to ensure that the recovery in Cayman Brac is done properly, particularly when it comes to Planning Code issues.
Most of the contractors coming back from Cayman Brac have noticed the lack of adherence to Planning Code in the construction there. This is partially because many of these homes were built prior to there being any Code.
However, when these homes are repaired or rebuilt, they will now require permission from the Planning Department and they must also adhere to the Planning Code.
It would be easy, in the attempt for a quick recovery and to meet budgetary constraints, to ‘look the other way’ when it comes to Code issues.
However, the Government is talking about developing the Brac in the future, and this recovery process is an excellent opportunity to correct some of the shortcomings of the homes and other buildings there.
More importantly, rebuilding to code will give those buildings a better chance of withstanding another hurricane, should there be such an unfortunate occurrence in the near future. The government simply cannot afford to potentially have to rebuild Cayman Brac again because it allowed inferior repairs or rebuilding this time.
Related Videos
