UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A senior UN official says the recovery of eastern Caribbean islands hardest hit by recent hurricanes could cost up to $1 billion. They include Dominica, Barbuda, Turks and Caicos, the British Virgin Islands and Anguilla.
Stephen O’Malley is the UN resident coordinator for Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States. He says the “large-scale rebuilding effort that will take time and it will be important to do that right.”
He told UN correspondents in a phone briefing from Dominica on Tuesday that “we don’t have exact figures yet” but for the worst-affected islands, the total recovery bill will be “half a billion to a billion dollars.”
O’Malley said the UN, World Bank and Antiguan government have already conducted a needs assessment for Barbuda, whose 1,800 residents were evacuated.
