Lack of skilled labor hampers Soudelor house repairs

Lack of a skilled and volunteer workforce that would help rebuild houses wiped out by Typhoon Soudelor is slowing down the process being done by the Commonwealth Advocacy for Recovery Efforts.

CARE would again discuss that and other important issues in today’s meeting at 2pm at the Governor’s Office’s conference room in Capital Hill.

There are about 130 families that need total rebuild as their houses were leveled by Soudelor’s tornado-like winds. Based on the data collected by the American Red Cross’ International Disaster and Crisis Management team, the villages of Kagman and Dandan have the highest percentage of homes that need total rebuilding with 14 and 12 percent, respectively.

CARE director Jenny Hegland said they are hoping to build typhoon-resilient homes for these families. “We want to help them build stronger homes and there are steps to be taken so we could make this a reality.”

However, they are faced with lack of a skilled workforce as construction laborers would rather go work for contractors that have big projects being built on Saipan.

Hegland said one solution that they are looking at is to bring in outside laborers especially from groups like the Mennonite Disaster Services, World Renew, and AmeriCorps VISTA.

The MDS, a non-profit group, alone has a network of more than 3,000 skilled volunteers whose primary focus is rebuilding homes in areas or countries affected by disasters.

CARE’s main concern is bringing in members of the said volunteer groups to help in the rebuilding process of all the totally damaged homes, since it would take additional funds for their trip.

That’s why Hegland, when they met with members of the Saipan and Northern Islands Legislative Delegation early this month, has asked SNILD for $250,000 to make sure CARE could tap the services of the three non-profit organizations.

CARE president Alex Sablan, during their meeting with SNILD, said the unmet housing needs for the typhoon victims is still significant. “Too many Saipan families still have home repair needs or need to completely rebuild their homes.”

He added that these families have either received aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or did not qualify to receive such funds. “[They] cannot meet the expense of rebuilding a safe, sanitary, and functional home on their own.”

CARE is looking at a 22-month period in completing all total rebuild housing projects once they bring in the skilled labor to the island. Hegland said CARE is looking at all available options in bringing in the said volunteer groups.