The Ministry of Housing, Lands and Maintenance will be undertaking Operation Seek and Secure on the weekends of August 27 and 28, September 3 and 4 and September 10 and 11.
This project will involve an audit of the housing stock of Barbados with a particular focus on houses that are made of wood, wood and wall construction, and single storey wall bungalows.
Data will be collected on each home to assist in determining the level of risk of the house to the natural hazards to which Barbados is vulnerable. The audit will collect data that will enable limited resources for public expenditure on housing improvement to be distributed on a scientific basis.
The data to be collected includes the age of the home, construction materials, condition of the walls and roof, and the angle of the roof.
Student volunteers from the Barbados Community College and the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology will be trained and deployed to undertake the audit, facilitated by the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, across the 30 constituencies. This will be done under the supervision of personnel from the Barbados Defence Force.
Students will be wearing orange T-shirts and wearing ID badges. They will not be entering the homes.
The Ministry encourages members of the public to cooperate with the students and all information given is strictly confidential