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

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.