Rebuilding costs for private buildings fall on owners: ROC Chairman

January 15, 2025 10:06 pm | Posted in Business News | Share now TwitterFacebook

By Anita Roberts.

The rebuilding costs for private buildings in the recovery site affected by the earthquake are the responsibility of owners, said the Chairman of the Recovery Operations Centre (ROC), John Ezra.

He said this arrangement needs to be made by owners with their insurers, but the government must be engaged if demolition is required for public safety.

If the owner cannot carry out the demolition, the government can use provisions in the Municipality Act and Physical Planning Act to handle it.

He mentioned that Chantilly’s on the Bay is one of the first businesses that volunteered for demolition after conducting their own structural assessment and discussions with their insurer.

The ROC chairman said they have already been meeting with private building owners and their insurers, and they hope to gain clarity on which insurance company is willing to work with each owner in anticipation of the structural assessment results.

With their experience from the Christchurch earthquake, engineers from New Zealand will be in charge of demolishing buildings. Japanese experts will assist with the Geotech assessment and Australia with detailed structural assessment.

Chairman Ezra said demolition is the main challenge now, as it will take a while to complete. He added that the Economic Sub-Committee will find out how many buildings are insured, and once that information is available and structural assessment is done, they will begin discussions with respective owners to arrange demolition.

He wants everyone to understand that it would take quite a while for Port Vila to complete the recovery process.

The detailed structural assessment on buildings and Geotech assessment of the Port Vila Central Business District (CBD) are still underway.