The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

DAYS after the prime minister pledged support for countries affected by Hurricane Beryl, Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell said the government has sent relief supplies to Grenada and will also send aid to St Vincent and the Grenadines this week.

Mr Mitchell also confirmed that a team from his ministry that visited Grenada ahead of cancelled CARICOM meetings have returned home and are safe.

He said Grenada had restored water and electricity by the time the team left.

He said Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis directed pilots heading to Grenada to carry bundles of tarp for hurricane victims, fulfilling a request of that country’s prime minister.

Another plane carrying additional supplies was expected to arrive in that country yesterday morning, Mr Mitchell said.

“The housing stock is almost 100 percent destroyed so they have significant issues which they have to face,” he added.

Hurricane Beryl made landfall in the Windward Islands on Monday as a powerful Category 5 storm, causing widespread damages across several island nations with at least six deaths confirmed.

Mr Mitchell said a meeting with CARICOM heads was held via Zoom on Tuesday, with several leaders giving updates on their country’s situation in the aftermath of the storm.

He said Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley told CARICOM heads that the nation’s fishing sector had been “totally destroyed,” but there were no reported deaths.

He said St Vincent and the Grenadines reported significant property damage and at least one death, but assessment of damage to adjoining islands is ongoing.

He said the government intends to send a plane with supplies to St Vincent and the Grenadines in the coming week.

As for Jamaica, he said some Bahamians, including the honorary consul general, chose to remain there to ride out the storm.

A group of Bahamians were airlifted home from Jamaica on Tuesday.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared his country a disaster zone for seven days, and evacuation orders have been issued for communities in low-lying areas.

Mr Mithcell said the government is staying in contact with Bahamians in Jamaica and its international partners to determine the way forward for affected countries after Beryl’s passing.

“This, of course, reinforces why the prime minister has indicated that climate change is the number one foreign policy issue and we are front and centre trying to mobilise resources on behalf of this country and our region because, essentially, a significant percentage of the GDP of all of these countries has been adversely impacted as a result of these storms,” he said.

“This is at the start of the season. They’re saying that a storm at this time of the year is unprecedented that the waters are warmer than they’ve ever been before, and that these feed these hurricanes. So, it is clear that we are in a significantly difficult period with regard to the climate and we will need to employ maximum pressure on these developed countries to step up to the plate on issues like loss and damage and mitigation for things which we have not contributed to.”