As residents of St. Vincent and the Grenadines continue to grapple with the continuous explosions of the La Soufrière volcano since Friday, relief support has been pouring in from countries across the globe and a shipment is scheduled to depart Guyana soon.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event held at State House yesterday, President Irfaan Ali announced that 350 tonnes of requested items which include food supplies were organized over the weekend and are ready to be shipped.
Among the items included in the first shipment are rice, sugar, beans, cleaning materials, personal protective gear and masks.
A statement from the Office of the President yesterday noted that Ali said support to St. Vincent and the Grenadines during this period which has seen thousands, including a number of Guyanese being displaced, will be continuous.
“This will be continuous support. What St Vincent is going through is not going to be a one-off event. All weekend we have worked on mobilising with the private sector… the Prime Minister (Brigadier, Ret’d, Mark Phillips) himself is looking at this. We are trying to get at least 350 tonnes of items—that is what the ship can take,” the statement quoted Ali as saying.
A second shipment of items including water will be sent to the island later in the week.
“We are now mobilising the black tanks, and that will go later this week. So as you would appreciate, the greatest difficulty is the logistics in this. But we have had tremendous goodwill from the private sector,” the OP statement noted.
Dormant since 1979, the volcano started showing signs of activity in December last year, spewing steam and smoke and rumbling away.
The first explosion was recorded at approximately 8.40 am on Friday followed by a second around 2:45 pm. A third eruption of the volcano occurred at about 6.35 Friday evening.
Since then, there has been a series of explosions and continuous ash fall which is expected to last over the next few days or weeks.
The University of the West Indies (UWI) Seismic Research Centre last night reported that three episodes of tremors were recorded since 6am yesterday. The episodes, it said continue to coincide with periods of enhanced venting/explosive activity.
It added that explosions, accompanied by ash falls are likely to continue over the next few days.
According to a Reuters report, Director at the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre, Erouscilla Joseph said that yesterday’s explosion which occurred around 4am was the most powerful to date.
“We expect more explosions are possible in the next days to weeks,” Joseph said, according to the report.
While no deaths have been recorded so far, the majority of the population has been affected and are forced to stay indoors. Water and electricity supply have started to become crucial issues.
The Reuters report also added that the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency yesterday said that it estimated around 16,000-20,000 people would be displaced by volcanic activity, with 3,600 currently in shelters and others staying at the homes of relatives and friends.
Apart from Guyana, St Vincent has since received support from a number of other countries including St. Lucia, Dominica, Venezuela and St. Kitts and Nevis.
In terms of financial support, the World Bank yesterday announced that it will be providing US$20m for the island’s response to the eruption.
“Our hearts are with the people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines during this crisis,” said Tahseen Sayed, World Bank Country Director for the Caribbean. “We are committed to supporting the response efforts at this critical time when the country faces this new disaster while already managing the social and economic effects of the pandemic,” a statement from the World Bank said.
The funds, according to the statement are disbursed from a contingent credit line from the World Bank, known as the Catastrophe Deferred Draw-down Option (Cat-DDO) which was approved in June 2020.
Over the weekend, the Bar-bados Government Information Service announced that the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) had delivered relief items to St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Venezuela also sent humanitarian aid and risk experts to St. Vincent yesterday morning. A Venezuelan vessel arrived in St Vincent with supplies including canned food and water. Search and rescue experts were also on the vessel.
Trinidad and Tobago has also sent 50 soldiers.
Relocation and evacuation
During a press conference on Friday, Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves shed tears as he expressed gratitude to Caribbean Community countries for the help offered.
“Amazing… on this dangerous road to Jericho, we have the good Samaritans…to put people in their homes…strangers…brings tears to my eyes. I love this Caribbean,” he had said.
As it relates to offering temporary relocation for distressed persons, Ali yesterday said that there has been no such request so far.
“That issue has not been put to us. For example, the Guy-anese living there—we are in contact with the Honorary Con-sul. I know the Vice President (Bharrat Jagdeo) himself had many conversations over the weekend, and as far as we have been advised, they are all safe—most of whom are in the green zone (safe area); and there has been no request,” Ali said, according to the OP statement.
However, other countries including St. Kitts and Nevis have since offered to assist to this end.
Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis Dr. Timothy Harris on Saturday promised to assist by providing a number of measures including financial assistance of EC$1M to help with the evacuation and resettling of his citizens and residents from the danger zone around the volcano.
The release added that the country is willing to welcome not more than 300 persons from families of two or three members who were evacuated from the danger zone.
Requirements for entry into the country including Covid-19 protocols such as vaccination will be determined by the technical team, the release said.
Additionally, the release added that the sum of US$20,000 was immediately released to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Manage-ment Agency (CDEMA) to bring immediate relief to the island and support its logistical operations. “Our National Emer-gency Management Agen-cy (NEMA) has been tasked with coordinating the National response to the Needs List provided by the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” it noted.
Dominica, on the other hand has offered support to assist with the evacuation of residents during this period.
“Government has been working to confirm logistics and make preparations for accommodation of a group of Vincentians for a period of up to five months,” a release from the Dominica Government said.
The release noted that a number of Dominicans have reached out and offered assistance to house individuals who need to be evacuated from St. Vincent.
In this regard, the release said that a special hotline has been established.
Meanwhile, the St. Lucia Government is providing assistance to 136 persons who are citizens of the Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) who are part of the seasonal agricultural workers’ programme.
The workers, the release said were stranded in St. Vincent and the Grenadines since they were on their way to Canada when their flight was cancelled.
“The agricultural workers, 95 Vincentians, 18 Saint Lucians and 23 Grenadians, were en route to Canada for employment on the seasonal agricultural workers’ programme when their flight from St. Vincent to Canada was cancelled. The workers arrived via Cruise Ship ‘Serenade of the Seas’ on Saturday morning and will remain in Saint Lucia for a few days until they can board a flight to Canada,” a release on the OECS website explained.
PAHO/WHO, through its Eastern Caribbean office based in Barbados, is coordinating with Saint Vincent national authorities to identify critical needs and is supporting the Ministry of Health with technical advice on enforcement of public health measures, and with shipments of 150,000 medical masks, other personal protective equipment, medical supplies and test kits, a release from the organization said.
PAHO/WHO says it has already provided 60,000 medical masks, 7,000 respirators and 6,000 gowns to the Barbados Defence Force emergency medical team to support a possible deployment of their military to perform emergency response activities.
Meanwhile, Guyana’s Minis-try of Foreign Affairs and Inter-national Cooperation yesterday issued a notice in which it urged Guyanese affected by the volcanic eruption to make contact with it.
The details are as follows:
Nigel Russell – Honorary Consul to St. Vincent & Grenadines (St. Vincent)
Tel: 784-453-1222 (office)
784-526-5159 (mobile/WhatsApp)
Email: nigelrussell612017@gmail.com
newguyanasvg@gmail.com
Ministry of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation (Guyana)
• Diaspora Unit
• Protocol and Consular Affairs Department
Tel: 592-226-1606; 592-226-1608 ext: 249, 342, 326, 279
WhatsApp: 592-619-0734
Email: minfor@guyana.net.gy; rrasul@minfor.gov.gy
