SIGNIFICANT progress is being made to rebuild key infrastructure on the island of Carriacou, in Grenada, in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl.
In a video posted by Tevin Andrews, Minister for Carriacou & Petite Martinique, Affairs and Local Government, to his social media platform, one of the ranks of the Guyana Defence force (GDF) who is a part of response team, explained that three main projects, which included the reconstruction of a police station, a revenue office building and a school, were making progress.

“We have done the most work so far on the police station, and the revenue office building. We have recently started the ministers building because that was only added to our work last week. I would say that the island has made a lot of progress since when we got here,” the GDF official said.

Beryl set a record for the first-ever Category Four storm in June in the Atlantic, making landfall last month on Carriacou, in Grenada, and wrecking nearby islands.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, Barbados, and St. Lucia were among some of the Caribbean States that were affected by the Category Four hurricane.

“We have seen a relative amount of normalcy being returned to the island; I admire the resilience of the people of Carriacou because some people their entire homes are destroyed. And you know, they still had somewhat of a positive demeanor,” the GDF official said.

In July, 50 ranks Grenada and St. Vincent and Grenadines to aid in rebuilding efforts following the destructive passage of Hurricane Beryl.
The GDF’s mission, Guyana’s President, Dr. Irfaan Ali had said, is to restore normalcy and demonstrate the values of passion, love, and service learnt in their training.

“Take with you the love, pride and rich tradition of what makes us Guyanese; strength of character and a sense of purpose as you help assist the nations within CARICOM [the Caribbean Community] to rebuild,” President Ali had said.

The 50 soldiers had joined another eight who left to provide support earlier.

Meanwhile Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier Omar Khan had noted that the mission ahead is a demonstration of the GDF’s commitment to regional security and cooperation.

Khan said: “Our Commander-in-Chief has directed that we are not only trained fundamentally to be soldiers, but we are trained to rebuild homes, lives and communities, and we are extending that service to a sister nation within our hemisphere.”

Soldiers were deployed to Grenada to provide humanitarian aid following a similar incident 20 years ago.