–taking some $20M in rations to hurricane-ravaged Caribbean islands

By Alexis Rodney
CARIBBEAN island citizens left shaken by the carnage wrought by Hurricanes Irma and Maria will soon receive some $20M worth of food and other much-needed supplies, courtesy of the government and people of Guyana.

The items, shipped in six containers, are currently on their way to Antigua to be proportionately distributed among the residents of those of the islands hardest hit by the storms.

Prime Minister and Chairman of the Ministerial Task Force, Mr Moses Nagamootoo and Minister of State, Mr Joseph Harmon, along with Chairman of the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), Colonel (Ret’d) Chabilal Ramsarup were on site Tuesday at the Laparkan Wharf to inspect the six containers before the vessel taking them to their destinations set sail at 18:00hrs.

Minister Harmon said the goods will be sent to Antigua and Dominica, which countries will be used as the central distribution points for the supplies.
The containers, according to the minister, are being shipped free of cost, by local freighters, Tropical Shipping.

Minister Nagamootoo said he is eternally grateful to the shipping company for offering to take the goods to the affected territories. The goods include rice, sugar, flour, biscuits, water and pasta, among other necessities.

“This is part of the continuing effort; we are not done as yet,” the PM said, adding:
“Sections of the society, especially the private sector, would continue to respond to the efforts that are being made here to those who are affected.”
He said one of the largest requests the government has received to date is for lumber, but that that will take a little time to put together, as the idea is to have them all packed and ready to make one shipment.

“We are committing ourselves to our brothers and sisters in the Caribbean, and we are hoping that our effort would be going towards helping to soothe some of their losses and suffering at this time,” the PM said.

WEATHER PERMITTING
Colonel Ramsarup said that weather permitting, Tuesday’s shipment will take between 10 to 12 days to arrive at its destination.
Most of the close to 80 tons of foodstuff, he said, was donated by members of the private sector and members of the public.

Along with the government’s US$100,000 donation, members of the public have also been making financial contributions, he said.
Businessman, Mr Komal Singh, said since the devastation wrought by the hurricanes, the private sector had been working very closely with the government to see how they could help alleviate the situation.

“The effort is not done, but is a continuous one,” Singh said. “We will continue to see how much more help we can garner, especially to help in rebuilding. We will also be working with the GCCI (Georgetown Chamber of Commerce & Industry) to see how we can work towards a rebuilding effort.”

The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), in a recent recovery and rebuilding update from member countries, have reported that in Anguilla, the government has announced that recovery from Hurricane Irma is proceeding at an extraordinary pace.

Phone and Internet communications have been restored to most parts of the island, while roads and beaches have been cleared. Many local restaurants have reopened, along with a number of hotels that are housing relief workers and government officials from the United Kingdom (UK).

On the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the majority of the hotels there are currently closed, while the Cyril E. King Airport in St Thomas was reopened on September 28.
Also in the BVI, the ferry companies, Road Town Fast Ferry and Native Son, have resumed operations between the islands, thereby allowing islanders, residents and work-permit holders to return to the country.

UP AND RUNNING
In Dominica, the government there has announced that many fax and telephone landline services are back up in the northern town of Portsmouth, and that the main Princess Margaret Hospital continues to function, along with most of the major Type Three healthcare centres on the island. It however said that only some of the wards are currently functional and occupied; water and electricity have been partially restored; and only emergency and life-saving surgical procedures are being performed.

Meanwhile, Cuba’s Minister of Tourism, Mr Manuel Marrero Cruz is quoted by the official Granma newspaper as saying that the island will be ready for the high tourist season, without any trace of Hurricane Irma.
The minister reportedly met with 160 tour operators last week at Varadero’s Plaza América convention centre.

And, in Saint Maarten, Minister of Aviation Ms Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher told The Daily Herald this week that management of the Princess Juliana International Airport was still carrying out in-depth assessments of the internal and external facilities, the majority of which suffered heavy to severe damage. The minister estimates that while the airport will not be back “in all its glory” for another 35 weeks, it would be able to function optimally much sooner than that.

The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) has reported that it is making a strong and speedy recovery following the passage of Hurricane Irma.
It also reports that Hurricane Maria did little to delay the rebuilding process, and that additional damage was minimal across most of the TCI’s eight inhabited islands.

On the US Virgin Islands of St Croix, St John and St Thomas, Governor Kenneth Mapp reported that St Thomas’ Cyril E. King Airport was opened to commercial flights as planned on Thursday, with both American Airlines and Delta operating services to the mainland United States.

The restoration of power, he added, was “inching its way forward”, whilst the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), working with local counterparts, was progressing with its provision of water to homes.