Sweden and the United States donated RD$3,325,584.00 for the construction and reconstruction of 4,134 homes after Hurricane David

The money was enough for 47 projects in Mata Gorda, Roblegal, La Ciénaga de Baní, Los Anones, Palenque, and Lomas de Valdesia. Forty-seven projects were carried out in Peravia, San Cristóbal, San José de Ocoa, Constanza, Jarabacoa, and the National District, almost all of them completed by the affected families themselves

SANTO DOMINGO – The emergency and reconstruction program was not sustained solely with funds from the national budget. Two foreign governments channeled resources to INVI in 1981 through different mechanisms: a direct donation from the Swedish central government and a working agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The 1981 Annual Report of the National Housing Institute (INVI), deposited in the General Archive of the Nation, records that in early 1981, the Swedish government began disbursing a monetary donation to the Dominican government, earmarked for repairs and construction of infrastructure and housing damaged by Hurricanes David and Federico, primarily in the southern and southwestern regions of the country. Among the beneficiary institutions were the State Secretariat of Agriculture, the Agricultural Bank, the Ministry of Public Works, the Forestry Secretariat, the Civil Defense, and INVI.

INVI was initially allocated the sum of RD$ 2,108,900.00, of which RD$ 1,905,584.00 had been delivered by the end of 1981. These funds financed two lines: reconstruction operations in already damaged communities and a program of new constructions in affected provinces.

The INVI-AID Agreement No. 517-0145.21, signed in the wake of the David and Federico disasters, contemplated the execution of 1,012 block houses with zinc roofs, wooden doors and windows, interior partitions in cardboard, toilets and water service.

The total cost of the program amounted to RD$1,856,666.97, of which RD$1,420,000.00 was a donation from the United States Government through USAID, and the remaining RD$436,666.97 was a contribution from the Dominican Government through INVI. The nine projects included in the agreement were built in Peravia and San Cristóbal, under four typologies: Iguana (35.84 m²), Duplex (30.00 m²), Care (36.00 m²), and Juan Barón (39.00 m²), all executed through a self-help and mutual aid system.

Reconstruction and construction program funded by the Swedish donation

* Help through Father Luis Quinn to the Ocoa Pro-Development Board for payment of labor in housing construction in Nizao and Arroyo Caña.

** Help to complete the Nizao, Las Auyamas, Monte Negro and Banilejo projects in San José de Ocoa, through the Municipality of the Ocoa Pro-Development Board.

Construction Program Agreement INVI-AID (USA) No. 517-0145.21

Total program cost: RD$1,856,666.97 (USAID grant: RD$1,420,000.00; INVI contribution: RD$436,666.97). The houses were built in four types: Iguana (35.84 m²), Duplex (30.00 m²), Care (36.00 m²), and Juan Barón (39.00 m²), all built through self-help and mutual aid. The Lucas Díaz and Iguana projects are identified in the report but without individual cost sheets.

Primary source: National Housing Institute (INVI), INVI 1981 Annual Report, Invivienda magazine no. 3, Santo Domingo, 1981. General Director: Eng. Frida Aybar de Sanabia. Deposit: General Archive of the Nation, signature 10110-1.

Series: History of social housing in the Dominican Republic. (Chapter XIV).

Recommended readings:

• INVI built nearly 2,000 emergency homes in eight provinces devastated by Cyclone David
• Three projects, a bottomless deficit: Antonio Guzmán's housing policy (1978-1982)
• The two atmospheric phenomena that forced a change in the way of thinking about housing in the Dominican Republic