ST. EUSTATIUS–Sylvinna Simmons and her family received the keys to their rebuilt and complete newly furnished house this week. The house was levelled by ferocity of Hurricane Irma on September 6, 2017. Members of St. Eustatius Lions Club, Nustar N.V., Statia Way, Quota International and the Dutch government came together to celebrate the completion of the house together with owners.
The house opening was preceded by a prayer service conducted by Reverend Vincia Celestine. Simmons, thereafter, cut a ribbon to symbolically open the house.
Lions Club President Leonora Sneek-Gibbs said the house repair project was the club’s signature project for 2016-2017 that was supported monetarily by Statia Way and Nustar N.V.
The initial amount of money raised was not sufficient after the hurricane inflicted more damage on the property. This led to Quota Club International and others to come on board. Lions Club and Quota also raised funds via food and bake sales, bingos and other activities.
Then Irma came and levelled the building. Only the bathroom, a concrete structure was left standing. It was then, Sneek-Gibbs said, that collaboration with the Dutch government started. She thanked Dutch project manager of the home reconstruction programme, Mel Raboen de Sanchez Pacheco, for assisting with the project.
The then-under-construction house was one of the sites King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima visited last year. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops visited the site in May.
Matthews Construction, headed by George Matthews, was responsible for constructing the house.
Bron: Daily Herald