TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands (CMC) — The Government of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) says plans are being made to review and upgrade the territory’s building codes following the devastating impact of Hurricane Irma.

“This hurricane that hit us is the scale we have never seen before, it was a Category 5, and it was really devastating,” said BVI Premier and Minister of Finance Dr Orlando Smith, during a Town Hall meeting earlier this week.

“Interestingly, just before that, we had intense flooding, again, such as we never had before in the BVI. Times have changed, and global warming is definitely affecting us; and we now have to look at where we are as a country and make the adjustments to suit the times in which we live.”

“We have to take lessons from what has happened, certainly with Irma and review our building codes,” he added.

“We have lost and received damage to about 70 per cent of our buildings, and that now gives us an opportunity to build smarter and stronger.”

The premier said just a few months ago, he had received a copy of the first draft of the new building code, because he had some concerns about the way buildings were being constructed.

“But now, we have to review that again; and, when we do that, we will want to involve the community and get your contributions, so that in the end, we will be able to build stronger and better,” he said.

Speaking in support of the building code review, Junior Minister for Trade, Investment Promotion and Consumer Affairs, Marlon A Penn said, “We have an opportunity to rebuild, and to do new things and rebuild green.

“Our rebuilding efforts have to take into effect the impact of global warming, as we have seen the impact of global warming first-hand,” he said.

In sharing similar sentiments, Junior Minister for Tourism, Archibald Christian said Category 5 hurricanes seem to be the new norm, adding, that the territory now needs to build to withstand Category 5-plus hurricanes.

“We need to build stronger and better, and it will take the efforts of professionals to assist us,” Christian said.

“We have a number of engineers here in the territory, as well as those from the region and internationally, but it can’t be business as usual anymore when it comes to building.

“We need to be building bunkers now that can withstand a Category 5 hurricane and above,” he added.