Barbados’ economic quest during the past seven years has been trying to find something called ‘fiscal space’. We found it. We convinced some lenders that: (i) a major disaster can be a national event in a small country, (ii) it is difficult to both repay debts and assist impacted persons following a national disaster and (iii) the predicted increased intensity and frequency of hurricanes due to climate change makes being forced to make this choice unjust.

Some lenders agreed to include a disaster clause in our loan contracts, which allows us to suspend debt payments for two years after a national disaster. However, since we can only apply it to three disaster events, we should keep it for a major earthquake or a Category 4 or 5 hurricane – not a tremor or tropical storm.

AFFORDABLE.

Hurricane damage from a Category 4 or 5 hurricane (to Dorian in 2019) may be negligible if we built strong and durable houses to the current CARICOM building standard. That standard is the CARICOM Regional Code of Practise for the Construction of Houses (CRCP 10:2023). There is a freely-available user-friendly version called Learner’s Guide.

The additional construction cost to build a new house to the standard where hurricane damage should be negligible, is approximately 5%. That should be affordable since the contingency amount for unforeseen events in a residential construction contract may be 5% to 10%.

WILD WEST.

Enforcing proper construction standards should reduce the demand for donor assistance following a major hurricane, which should eliminate the need for much of that fiscal space we are looking for. The next logical step would be to ensure that Barbadian houses are designed and built properly.

Surprisingly, Barbados still allows a generally unregulated residential construction industry, where designers are allowed to design, and builders are allowed to build weak and high-maintenance houses. This is despite having a National Building Code for the past 32 years that almost no one is required to follow.

CHECKING FOR COMPLIANCE.

Why do homeowners, who will likely be homeless if we were impacted by a major earthquake or hurricane, appear disinterested in the safety of their house designs and the quality of construction. My experience is that they are not disinterested – their trust is simply misplaced.

Homeowners trust that: (i) their designers and contractors will do a good job, (ii) the Planning and Development Department (former Town and Country Planning) will check and approve their designer’s and contractor’s work and (iii) the banks and other mortgage institutions will check and approve the contractor’s work.

Homeowners are normally surprised that the fees that they pay the Planning and Development Department (PDD) include no safety design checks to the requirements of the Barbados National Building Code. That explains the common unsafe and non-compliant designs observed across Barbados. They are also normally surprised that inspections done by the PDD and mortgage institutions include no quality-of-construction checks. That explains the typical sub-standard residential construction practices.

Both PDD and mortgage institutions claim that checking designs for safety and construction work for quality is not their job. So, whose job is it?

THE CYCLE.

After every tropical storm where thousands of houses are damaged or destroyed, we have a predictable cycle: (i) the damage is surveyed, (ii) affected people are comforted, (iii) the public is assured that that enforcement of building standards must be a priority in a country vulnerable to hurricanes, (iv) no enforcement happens and (v) the next damaging tropical storm arrives.

We know we live in a region prone to earthquakes and hurricanes. We convinced lenders that we need fiscal space to address these vulnerabilities. The knowledge to build strong and durable houses is freely available, yet we seem stuck on this path of certain death, destruction and misery.

I agree that we should look for fiscal space. But should we not, at the same time, implement proven actions to avoid needing it?