| HUD No. 00-159 | |
| Further Information: | For Release |
| In the Washington, DC area: 202/708-0685 | 2 p.m. Wednesday |
| Or contact your local HUD office | July 5, 2000 |
CUOMO AWARDS $4.1 MILLION IN HUD ASSISTANCE FOR HURRICANE RECONSTRUCTION IN HONDURAS
WASHINGTON – U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo and Honduran President Carlos Roberto Flores today announced $4.1 million in HUD assistance to help Honduras rebuild from devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch.
The assistance will help as many as 6,000 Honduran families move out of temporary housing where they have been living since Mitch struck in November 1998 and move into new housing built to withstand powerful storms.
Activities funded by the HUD assistance include: long-term planning for the development of new and reconstructed communities, creation of local community organizations to speed planning and development activities, rebuilding damaged infrastructure, providing financing for home repairs, and providing training in reconstruction and building technology.
"Nothing can erase the terrible suffering and the massive destruction caused by Hurricane Mitch, but the assistance we’re providing can speed up efforts to rebuild communities, rebuild housing and create a better future," Secretary Cuomo said.
President Flores said: "I want to offer Secretary Cuomo and the very generous American people Central America’s profound gratitude for the prompt and significant cooperation that the United States extended during our emergency and for the subsequent efforts of assistance and rehabilitation."
Flores spoke via satellite from the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa to a Washington news conference held by Cuomo. Honduran Ambassador to the United States Hugo Noe Pino also attended the news conference
Honduras will get the largest single portion
of $10 million that HUD is providing to Central American countries ravaged
by Mitch and to Caribbean countries damaged by Hurricane Georges in 1998.
The official U.S. response to the Mitch disaster is unprecedented in that it marks the first time that federal agencies have joined in a coordinated recovery effort for a disaster outside the United States.
HUD assistance to Honduras will consist of:
- $2.4 million for municipal planning and
development, and creation of local community organizations in: 1) The Amareteca
Valley, 25 miles north of the capital of Tegucigalpa. 2) Two riverside
neighborhoods – Chamelecon and Rivera Hernandez – in San Pedro
Sula, Honduras’ second largest city. 3) The Garifuna neighborhood
in the city of Tela along the Caribbean coast. The aid will improve local
infrastructure, and help fund development of a comprehensive plan to bring
housing financing and building construction technology to the areas.
- $1 million to finance micro-credit institutions
that will provide small loans to finance repairs of homes and home-based
businesses.
- About $350,000 in technical training for
professional planners and municipal officials who are actively participating
in reconstruction activities.
- Another $350,000 for a training program on building technology. This program will identify the most successful home construction methods and train Hondurans in using these methods to build safe and affordable housing.
The assistance announced today fulfills a
pledge Cuomo made when he visited Honduras and other Central American countries
a month after Hurricane Mitch struck.
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