… Min. Felix to lead Guyana delegation to storm-hit islands

GUYANA has doubled its contribution towards relief for the Caribbean territories affected by Hurricane Irma from US$50,000 to US$100,000, the Government announced Thursday.
In a statement issued by the Director of Public Information (DPI), Imran Khan, it was also disclosed that Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix, will head a team of officials to the islands of St Maarten and the British Virgin Island (BVI), tentatively on Saturday.
“The Government of Guyana is intensifying efforts to coordinate relief for Guyanese nationals affected by Hurricane Irma in a number of Caribbean islands, particularly St Maarten and British Virgin Islands which both suffered serious devastation following the passing of the Category five hurricane,” the statement said.
Felix will be joined by representatives of his Ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Civil Defence Commission (CDC).
The team will conduct a needs assessment and will return after conducting assessments in Tortola and St Maarten.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Ministerial Task Force on the Caribbean Disaster, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, along with Felix who is also a member of the task force, held consultations with the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Major General (ret’d) Joe Singh (who is acting on behalf of Minister of State Joseph Harmon who is currently out of the jurisdiction) and other officials, on Thursday.
Director General of the CDC, Colonel (ret’d) Chabilall Ramsarup, briefed the task force on the initial plans for Guyana’s response, following a briefing from officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, relative to the situation faced by Guyanese nationals in the affected islands.
It was after the three-hour-long meeting that it was decided that Minister Felix will head Guyana’s Needs Assessment Team to Tortola in the BVI and St Maarten via Antigua, to conduct an initial assessment of the needs of Guyanese nationals on the islands and report to the Ministerial Task Force appointed by President David Granger.

Prime Minister Nagamootoo expressed deep concern for the welfare of Guyanese, particularly in Tortola and surrounding islands, Virgin Gorda, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke, and uttered words of relief at reports that Guyanese who were evacuated from Barbuda to Antigua are being accommodated by relatives and friends on the main island there.
The Ministerial Task Force also includes Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge; Minister Harmon; Minister of Finance Winston Jordan; Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson; Minister of Public Affairs, Dawn Hastings-Williams; and Minister of Public Service Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine.