ST JOHN’S, Antigua — A Chinese firm specializing in energy and housing met with the Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda on Wednesday.
The company showed interest in constructing a new town in Barbuda, according to Cabinet notes. They proposed to construct a complex of several “high-rise apartment buildings” that could resist hurricane winds exceeding 200 mph, Antigua News Room reported.
“The complex would be self-contained, meaning that it would contain a supermarket, cleaners, a drug store, a restaurant, a movie theater, clothing stores, a church, car parks and other kinds of amenities that are common to new complexes,” the Cabinet notes by Chief of Staff Lionel “Max” Hurst read.
Representatives of the Chinese company agreed to return in a week with costs. They assured the Cabinet that the firm could arrange low-cost financing and construct living spaces that would be within the reach of families of limited means.
A month after Irma, life in Barbuda is slowly getting back to normal. There is still no power, no phones and just one store is open. The country’s military and police are present, helping to remove debris from main roads. Recently, the government, which had issued a mandatory evacuation order in the storm’s wake, has allowed people to return to clean up their homes.
Photo: Ninety percent of houses in Barbuda were damaged by Hurricane Irma