Caribbean news. Before he left Antigua for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer had some knowledge of the devastation suffered by St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Tuesday evening, December 23, 2013.
Following Saturday morning’s meeting with local and regional contractor, and officials from various regional Government and institutions, Honourable Spencer, accompanied his Vincentian counterpart on a tour of the devastated areas, in the North Windward areas.
Speaking to the media on his assessment of the situation, the Antiguan Prime Minister who is also the current Chair of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, stated, “I saw some of the images on television through CMC, and I kind of thought that it was major damage. But now that I have come and seen the situation first hand, I recognized that this has been devastating.”
Antigua’s Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer looks at the devastation around him during his tour
He was standing on what are now the banks of an enlarged Colonarie River, dominating a landscape littered with debris along the sides of the river.
Houses and other structures stood askance as their foundations had been roughly removed by the force of the rushing waters, with broken pieces of furniture, sodden mattresses, dented and reshaped appliances, and cooking utensils occupying spaces along with hundreds of boulders of all sizes.
Despite the destruction by the floods, Prime Minister Spencer noted the “resilience of the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines against the backdrop of what is clearly a devastating experience.”
He was in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to show solidarity with the nation in its time of need, and more particularly the Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves. “He and I have developed a close friendship, and also as the current Chair of the OECS Heads.”
He recognized that three of the member states have suffered adverse consequences because of the weather patterns, “so I thought it was my duty to come and see for myself exactly what is taking place, so that we may be able to lend support to the efforts the Vincentians are making in restoring and rebuilding after this disaster.”
The Antiguan leader had also spoken to all three Heads of Government prior to his trip to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and despite the full assessment had not yet been finalized, “we are talking about damages in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”
He had also spoken to a young businessman of Colanarie whose initial loss was over EC$200,000.00, resulting from extensive damage to his poultry farm, bakery, and other pieces of equipment.
He called for assistance to be given to persons in an effort to rebuild their lives, as they enter an uncertain period.
The Antiguan Prime Minister (left) being given an explanation as to the current width of the Colanarie River vis-à-vis its original size
The impact on the OECS Sub-region is enormous according to the Antiguan Prime Minister, for “it certainly would have an economic impact. Because clearly these three member states, resources which are very scarce, will have to be found somehow or the other to reconstruct, to re-engineer, and rehabilitate so it would have an economic impact from the point of view of having to raise funds.”
He however cautioned that not all the funds received would be gratis by grant, and ways and means would have to be found to acquire the much-needed resources – financial, technical, and otherwise.
“My own view is that in situations like these where a number of member states are being affected at the same time that we have to find a way sub-regionally to put together a mechanism to assist these member states out of this major challenge they have on their hands at this time.”
He decided to visit the affected islands in his capacity as Chair of the OECS, for a full assessment so there could be proper coordination of efforts. It was also to make the delivery of support – real support especially in the area of the rebuilding of the infrastructure, that can move on at a pace.
“You cannot wait for one, two or three years to deal with these issues. These matters require rapid response,” Prime Minister Spencer concluded.
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