Govt upgrades electricals, plans to modernise older NHC communities in fire’s wake

Minister of Housing, Lands and Maintenance Chris Gibbs. (Photo Credit: File Photo) The National Housing Corporation is upgrading electrical systems across its older housing estates and plans to build new, climate-resilient homes to reduce overcrowding and replace structures considered vulnerable to severe storms, Housing Minister Chris Gibbs has told Barbados TODAY. The NHC is also pursuing broader structural overhauls and property transfers to modernise older housing estates, he said. The revelation came in the wake of a fire in a public housing flat at Maynard’s, St Peter on Sunday that left a nine-year-old boy suffering from smoke inhalation. The fire prompted renewed questions about the safety, inspection and general upkeep of public housing blocks decades after they were built. The ground floor of this Maynard’s St Peter apartment gutted by a fire which occurred around 3 o’clock this morning. A neigbour said she heard a loud explosion before the fire consumed the home which was at the time occupied by 3 people including a 9-year-old boy who is reportedly fighting for his life at hospital. (Photo Credit: Ricardo Roberts) Gibbs said that the specific block affected by the blaze had already undergone electrical work and received formal certification before the incident. “I can tell you that that block was completely upgraded and certified by [Government Electrical Engineering Department],” Gibbs said. “Whenever we do an electrical upgrade, what we’ve been doing is that the electrical upgrade programme entails essentially upgrading from 110 [volts] to 220. Obviously, that’s important because there are lots of equipment and devices that people would want to use but can’t when they got 110.” Addressing concerns about the age and condition of the housing stock, Gibbs explained that many housing estates date back several decades, leaving their infrastructure outdated and strained by modern appliance use. The initiative to convert older units from 110-volt to 220-volt capacity is an established, multi-year project designed to reduce circuit overload across government housing estates. You Might Be Interested In “You would hear people saying in some of the estates that date back to the 50s, 60s, and 70s, they would have the older electrical systems,” he said. “We’ve been going through and upgrading them for individuals in our programme… It is an ongoing programme, and we’re going through all of the estates. A lot of these units would obviously have been checked and certified as we go through.” Gibbs said the size of the housing portfolio makes the process a long-term undertaking that relies on yearly budget allocations. He compared the effort to large-scale infrastructure projects undertaken by utility providers, noting that work must proceed incrementally because of financial constraints. “The scale of the estates is massive,” Gibbs said. “If you go down in the Pine, you go in Haynesville, you go in Deacons, you will see how big, and this is all funded by the government. It takes some time—it’s a mammoth task, but you’ve got to kind of go through one by one and do it right.” Beyond individual electrical improvements, the ministry is pursuing a strategy of full estate overhauls, homeownership transfers and, where necessary, replacing severely aged structures with new, climate-resilient developments. Under the homeownership initiative, long-term tenants of more than 20 years are being granted ownership of their units, transferring responsibility for internal repairs directly to residents. “Just this year we did almost 500, and another almost 500 was done before,” Gibbs said. “So that would tell you we’re going through and also transferring ownership so somebody can own their own unit, and then obviously they’re responsible for all the internal maintenance that is required.” For properties remaining under direct government management, Gibbs described a new “maintenance reset” strategy aimed at addressing accumulated repairs in a single visit per location, covering general maintenance, lighting, parking and cosmetic updates comprehensively. “What I’ve been trying to do since I became minister is almost like a maintenance reset,” Gibbs said. “We go in with the team, address as many issues as possible, do beautification, general repairs, everything in one. We’ve done London Bourne Towers, and right now we’re in the Grotto trying to sort out as many concerns as possible there.” Regarding high-density older areas where building integrity makes full rewiring or refurbishment impractical, Gibbs said the government plans to reduce density by building new housing developments elsewhere. Areas such as Lower Burney have been earmarked for new, climate-resilient housing to rehouse residents from heavily congested estates. “If you have a structure you’re not comfortable with if a Category Two storm comes through, you’re not going to try to do minor work—we’re going to build something better for them,” Gibbs said. “The strategy for extremely dense housing, where they’re very, very old structures, is to build more capacity to offload that density outside. The strategy is multi-pronged and involves building new, affordable, climate-resilient homes.” Police and fire officials continue to investigate the cause of Sunday’s fire at Maynards. Gibbs confirmed that his ministry is working alongside area MP Colin Jordan to secure temporary housing for the displaced family as they recover. “When there’s a fire, the site is given over to the police service, and they, along with the fire service, will do the investigations so they can figure out what exactly went wrong,” Gibbs said. “I feel the responsibility to find temporary accommodations for them until we can find them something more stable. I want them to get healthy, and we can take care of the rest.” (RR)