Edmund Ridge fury

Less than a year after moving into his new two-bedroom home at Edmund Ridge Estates in St James, homeowner Anthony Davis has begun extensive interior renovations. The house was among several severely damaged in October when Hurricane Melissa ripped through the development.

Davis said the overhaul, which is estimated to exceed $5 million, follows radio silence from the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ), the state entity that spearheaded the housing development in partnership with the China-based Henan Fifth Construction Group Company.

The Category 5 hurricane tore off a large portion of the roof, , destroyed the drywall partitions, and ruined furniture.

Davis was overseas at the time, but his wife and daughter were caught in the mayhem that the cyclone brought.

“I was floored because my family was exposed to something they had never been exposed to before, and for hours, they were trapped in the house and exposed to the elements,” said Davis, who saw the damage days later when the country’s airspace reopened.

“They were wet. They were shivering. The roof came down,” he said, noting that things were swirling like a tornado inside. “They could have been killed.”

Haunted by their ordeal, Davis is now redesigning the $19.2-million house “Jamaican style”, insisting he will never again allow his family to experience such “trauma”. He criticised the drywall construction, arguing that it offered little structural support and could not withstand hurricane-force winds.

“We’re building the way it should have been built in the first place … . So now we’re putting in concrete structures, block and steel, putting it in the right way to make sure that the next time around, hopefully, we’re secure,” he told The Sunday Gleaner.

Although the development’s building system is unclear, the sale agreement reviewed by The Sunday Gleaner states that the vendors “may in their absolute discretion” determine construction methods. The contract also makes the sale subject to HAJ and St James Municipal Corporation conditions. A 180-day structural warranty is voided if the purchaser makes alterations.

Under the Building Act (2018), homeowners must obtain formal approval for any major interior changes that affect structural elements or deviate from approved plans. A municipal permit is required for structural modifications, including altering load-bearing walls, columns, beams, or foundations.

BUILDING TO WITHSTAND FUTURE BLOWS

Davis maintains that, to his knowledge, no restrictive covenant prevents his renovations. But even if one exists, he argues that safeguarding his family must come first.

“So, even if there was a restrictive covenant about changing the drywall, you cannot [honour] that. You have to put in structures so that can stay in place for years and, hopefully, can deal with a hurricane of the force of Category 5.

“The storms are getting [stronger]. You would have to do everything you can to protect lives from this point. If we’re going to say, ‘Oh, we have to stick with the covenant and stay with the drywall, that would not make sense’,” he reasoned.

He said multiple letters he sent to the HAJ have gone unanswered.

A chorus of fury has erupted among homeowners of Edmund Ridge Estates in St James after Hurricane Melissa tore through the three-year-old housing scheme, ripping off roofs and flattening structures, leaving several families in distress.

When The Sunday Gleaner initially toured the scheme after the hurricane, twisted sheets of zinc lined every street – replaced by blue tarpaulin that now shielded homeowners from outside elements.

Residents estimated that more than 90 per cent of roofs in Phase 2 of the scheme was torn off by the monster storm, forcing some homeowners to leave, while others recoiled into the least affected parts of their houses or set up temporary stays in their cars.

In Phase 3, where units are to be handed over to buyers in the coming months, the interior of several crumbled along with the roofs.

In November, HAJ Managing Director Doreen Prendergast told The Sunday Gleaner that while the agency sympathises with homeowners, it could not have anticipated the hurricane’s level of destruction.

She declined to comment on the quality of construction materials, saying any claims must be backed by evidence and questioned the qualifications of homeowners to make such assessments. She directed affected residents to their insurance providers.

HEFTY REPAIR BILL

Landen Craft, a senior property adjuster with Sedgwick, an international adjusting firm, said repair costs could reach tens of thousands of US dollars.

He was completing an assessment of the damage at Davis’ house for a local insurance carrier two Fridays ago when he spoke to The Sunday Gleaner.

Craft said he was there to measure scope, identify the damage and write a comparative estimate for Davis to reach an agreed scope and price. This will then be sent in a report to the insurance carrier, which will review for approval.

“Our job is to indemnify the insured for the loss sustained and bring it back to pre-loss conditions. Not anything more,” he said.

Craft said the claim will not cover the new block and steel structure Davis is putting in place but the sheetrock and stud walls that were there before.

“For something like that, including the roof, the estimated damage could be anywhere from US$50,000/US$60,000. We’ve had houses that ranged from US$50,000/US$60,000 all the way up to US$250,000,” he said, adding that Sedgwick has received more than 150 hurricane-related claims islandwide for both residential and commercial properties.

“So, we’re going to do our best to make sure the insured is put back whole, nothing is missing, and if they feel like they’re not getting something back, we always work with them and we try to discuss and work around ways to make sure that they feel we did our job correctly,” he said.

Even as assessments continue on the three-year-old house, Davis insists that the HAJ must be held accountable for the quality of the homes delivered.

Added to that, he urged to agency to respond to homeowners, arguing that some of the restrictive covenants ought to be lifted.

“We need to be able to get out of some of the restrictive covenants because people have to be able to [re]build stronger houses. Of course, I would love to be able to change everything to ensure that I create a home that is safe for my family,” he said, adding that his contractor will be using “every engineering solution to ensure that going forward, we have a stronger structure”.

Contractor Rushane Simpson, whose company Simpsons Construction and Landscaping has been renovating damaged houses in Edmund Ridge, said his team removed all drywall from Davis’ house and is replacing it with six-inch blocks, columns, beams, and reinforced roofing with improved anchors and bolts. The exterior walls will also be upgraded, with a one-inch flashing added beneath the trowel-on finish to prevent water seepage – a persistent problem since Davis purchased the property.

“It’s a full renovation. So, it’s a completely new house when we’re finished,” he said.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com