Union Acres homeowners threaten legal action over hurricane losses

Homeowners in Union Acres, St James, whose newly built properties were torn up by Hurricane Melissa in October, have served notice that they will use litigation in an effort to force the developer to pay for the catastrophic losses they sustained.

The National Housing Trust (NHT) has confirmed that approximately 40 of the 144 two-bedroom houses sustained “varying degrees of damage”.

The housing scheme, where units were sold for $16.5 million, was officially opened a year ago. It is a joint-venture project of the NHT, Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA) and the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU).

The scheme was developed by Can-Cara Development.

In the aftermath of the Category 5 hurricane, scattered sheets of zinc, shredded wood, drywall remnants, and partially stripped roofs marked the scene of the housing development in Irwin, less than seven kilometres southeast of the Montego Bay town centre.

The homeowners told The Gleaner that despite the scheme’s official opening last year, keys were handed over in March this year, with some moving into their houses on October 25, three days before the hurricane made landfall in western Jamaica.

“All the roofs are compromised, which suggests that the roofs were not done properly,” argued one homeowner, who asked not to be identified because of her position in the public sector.

VERY TRAUMATIC

The woman, who said she moved into her house just months ago, said she retreated to her car after the force of the wind, in one go, ripped off her roof and the drywall beneath crumbled.

She recounted how she pulled the handbrake of the car as tight as possible and braced for the worst, calculating that she could be blown about as the car bounced repeatedly.

Hours later, she said, she ran to her neighbour’s house which, although also compromised, was not as severely impacted.

“It was very traumatic because I was in the house alone, and I saw water running along the walls on the inside. I was talking to a friend and I said, ‘I think my roof is compromised based on the water I’m seeing’.

“By the time I said that and went to use the bathroom, the entire roof went and I was trapped behind the bathroom door just hanging on for dear life, because the breeze was blowing everything,” she recalled.

She argued that homeowners were sold houses with substandard roofs that were subsequently exposed with the passage of the hurricane.

St James was among the parishes most severely impacted by the hurricane, which caused significant damage and widespread losses of roofs across all of western Jamaica.

“The challenge we are having is that, since everything, we have been trying to have dialogue with NHT, because it’s a new scheme and there are persons who are still in the six-month defect period. There are persons who just got their keys, and there are persons who got called for their keys but the house got damaged. They have not been forthcoming about anything,” the woman argued.

She said a team from Can-Cara visited, but indicated that the company was only doing so on humanitarian grounds.

BAD DEAL

Another homeowner, who acquired her property through one of the trade unions, pointed to the make-up of the roofs with aluminium sheeting, rafting and drywall.

A section of her roof was pierced by a wooden beam, while the drywall from other sections fell apart after becoming saturated.

“Right now we want to get in touch with our lawyer. We thought we got something proper, but Melissa exposed that it wasn’t. It was something different. I think we’ve gotten a bad deal. So we’re coming together to get a lawyer in order to get justice,” said the woman, who also asked not to be identified.

“Our mortgages are over $60,000, and some persons are paying over $115,000, and this is what we got. When a regular person is building and goes to NHT, the pressure you are under, the rigour and the inspection done by their team to ensure that it is done by a certain standard; clearly, this was not done with these properties,” she said.

Asking about the clauses of the sale agreement, The Gleaner was told that homeowners are not yet in receipt of the documents, which are said to be with the attorneys of the joint-venture partners.

NO RESPONSE

Can-Cara did not respond to questions emailed by The Gleaner concerning the materials used, the methods employed to build the houses, and the avenues for recourse.

The Gleaner was unable to reach representatives of the JCTU and the JCSA for comment, and subsequent messages with requests went unanswered.

In an emailed response last Friday to Gleaner questions, the NHT said the trade unions entered the venture with their own design-build contractor, who was responsible for all project designs, obtaining agency approvals, executing and supervising construction, and handing the completed infrastructure over to the statutory agencies.

“The NHT provided construction financing for the development to the joint venture, and mortgage financing for its beneficiaries. The NHT was allotted 58 units in the development for sale to qualified contributors. Other units were sold by the joint-venture partners,” the NHT said.

The state entity said it dispatched social workers to the scheme in the aftermath of the hurricane, and that an assessment was also conducted.

Further, it said the support measures provided to mortgagors at this time also extend to residents of Union Acres.

“NHT mortgagors in the development have been advised to, and should, make peril insurance claims, in keeping with the insurance arrangements which are a part of their monthly mortgage payments. Homeowners are also able to access other relief support initiatives by the Trust, to include an automatic six-month moratorium on mortgage payments and a special hurricane relief grant,” the NHT said.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com

Questions to Can-Cara:

1. Can you confirm that all homes in the Union Acres scheme were constructed in full compliance with the National Building Code and any specific wind-load requirements mandated for this geographical area?

2. What specific hurricane-resistant construction techniques and materials were utilised in the Union Acres development (e.g., roof tie-downs, wall reinforcement, window ratings)?

3. Given that the keys to the units were handed over recently, are the destroyed homes covered under the Defects Liability Period (DLP) stipulated in the contract with the NHT?

4. What is Can-Cara’s position regarding the cause of the destruction? Do you believe the damage is solely due to Hurricane Melissa, or could it be related to pre-existing construction defects?

5. What is the specific time frame within which Can-Cara is legally or contractually obligated to remedy/repair defects, and how does this apply to complete destruction?

6. Has Can-Cara deployed an independent structural engineering team to inspect the destroyed/damaged units in Union Acres? If so, when will their findings be made available to the NHT and the homeowners?

7. Will Can-Cara commit to a guaranteed timeline for the reconstruction of the affected homes, and will this process involve upgrading the structural integrity beyond the original specifications to better withstand future hurricanes?