ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) — The Antigua and Barbuda Government says a Chinese firm has shown interest in establishing a new town in Barbuda, which was severely damaged when Hurricane Irma passed through the Lesser Antilles last month.

A Government statement, which did not identify the Chinese firm, noted that it has expertise in energy and housing and had been invited to brief the Cabinet by Minister of Works and Housing Eustace Lake.

According to the statement, the Chinese firm has “proposed to construct a complex of several high-rise apartment buildings that could resist hurricane winds exceeding 200 miles per hour”.

It said that the complex would include a supermarket, drug store, restaurant, movie theatre, clothing stores, a church, car parks, and other kinds of amenities that are common to new complexes.

The statement said that the team agreed to return in a week with prices and has “assured the Cabinet that it could arrange financing that is low-cost, and living spaces that would also be within the reach of families with limited means”.

The Gaston Browne-led Administration, which had initially declared Barbuda inhabitable following the passage of the Category Five storm, has said that it needs in excess of US$200 million to redevelop the island that is home to an estimated 1,600 people.

Media reports here said that so far less than US$50 million has been pledged from friendly governments and organisations.