Dear Editor,
It was Black Friday in St Vincent when the volcano erupted less than 24 hours after Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves ordered an evacuation of residents, prompting Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali to call Gonsalves offering assistance by way of supplies and accommodation. It was a good gesture by President Ali not only on humanitarian ground, but SVG is a CARICOM State. Up to the time of writing, the total effect is not yet known but what is certain flights will be disrupted because of the ash. There is a close affinity between Guyana and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Scores of Guyanese have been living there for decades including a few well known personalities, including Barbara Bollers, daughter of Guyana’s first Chancellor of the Judiciary Sir Kenneth Stoby and Dr. Francesca Burnham-Onu, daughter of late President Forbes Burnham. Forbes’ first wife Sheila, lived many years in St Vincent with her daughter and died in that island. Former Attorney-General, Emerson Robertson, was married to a Guyanese, Shirley Marshall-Robertson, a medical doctor, and they have two daughters who are lawyers.
I worked in the island state for five years as Solicitor General and acting DPP and played a very important role in the community. Apart from work, I served as PRO to the Rotary Club where large sums of monies were realized for the construction of the School for Special Needs. I have several friends there including Prime Minister Gonsalves, architect Moulton Mayers, Douglas Williams, Attorney-at-Law and former Speaker of the House, his first wife was also a Guyanese who died at a relatively young age. Friday’s eruption was the second in 42 years. Incidentally, before moving to SVG I worked in Montserrat and that tiny island suffered an eruption in 1997 where 19 persons were killed and 65 % of the island was totally damaged including the capital, Plymouth. Six thousand residents fled seeking refugee status in the UK, Antigua, and other Caribbean islands. Some took up residence in rural Guyana.
A CNN report on Friday stated that evacuation orders were put into place in about a dozen districts, and Prime Minister Gonsalves said on Friday that 20,000 people live in the red zone and up to Friday midday 4,500 have been evacuated – most seeking shelters in make shift accommodation. The governments of Dominica, Grenada, Barbados, St. Lucia, and Antigua and Barbuda have all agreed to accommodate some of the evacuees. Also offering assistance in other areas like transportation and logistics are the United States Southern Command, Venezuela, Cuba and the Regional Security System. Three cruise ships will assist in ferrying the evacuees. Guyana’s Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon, issued a statement that the opposition supports the move by President Ali to assist the Vincentians. Meanwhile, PM Gonsalves has appealed to mini bus operators to continue assisting with the movement of persons from the red zone to more comfortable accommodations. “Based on initial scientific assessments, at a minimum the recovery could take four months depending on the duration of the eruption.” the Prime Minister said.
Sincerely,
Oscar Ramjeet