The Board of the CARICOM Development Fund last Friday authorized its Chief Executive Officer Lorne T. Mc Donnough to provide one-time grants of US$60,000 to the Government of Saint Lucia and US$30,000 to the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines under the Emergency Disaster Assistance (EDA) facility.
The emergency grants are to be applied to trade-related activities which were dislocated after the passage of Hurricane Tomas, a CDF release stated.
However, the affected member states, following a fuller evaluation of the impact of the hurricane, may request a review of their Country Assistance Programmes (CAPs).
The Board of Directors of the CDF in July this year had approved a CAP of US$4.9 million for the Government of Saint Lucia and in September approved US$4.2 million for St Vincent and the Grenadines.
And the Government of Belize has also been approved to receive US$3.4 million, bringing total approvals to member states under all facilities by the CDF to US$12.59 million.