Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit is due to travel to Grenada later on Tuesday as the Caribbean country recovers from the battering it took when Hurricane Beryl passed through the Windward Islands last week.
Skerrit, who is part of an inter-prime ministerial committee of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders, chaired by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, said he would also be visiting St Vincent and the Grenadines possibly later this week or early next week.
Hurricane Beryl left a trail of death and destruction in the Grenadine islands of Carriacou, Petite Martinique and Union Island, as well as Barbados and St Lucia.
“Even if we were not affected by the hurricane, I have volunteered to serve on a committee and we had our first meeting on Saturday to discuss the strategy for raising funds for these countries affected, we will have a follow-up meeting this week so that we can mobilise the international committee to support these countries.
“We are speaking to friends that we have to help raise funds on behalf of those countries affected and I will also travel whenever we establish the donor conferences and to speak for and on behalf of these countries…and to help mobilise resources.
“So this fight must not be a Barbados only fight …, this fight cannot be a St Vincent and the Grenadines fight because St Vincent was not affected, this fight cannot be a fight for Grenada alone…it cannot be a fight for Jamaica alone.
“No, it has to be a fight of solidarity, a fight of commonality because we all in this together,” Skerrit said.
Skerrit said his visit to Grenada, where he will hold talks with Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell will allow Dominica to discuss the situation on the ground using its experiences from recent hurricanes and disasters.
“As I indicated before we will be making a financial contribution to all the countries affected,” he said, dismissing comments from some members of the public that given the debt owed by the island, it should not be providing financial assistance to those affected.
“I believe in the sanctity of two words, gratefulness and graciousness. In this life you will never know where you will end up. We all pray to the Lord and so on and you will never know where you will end up and you have to be grateful and gracious to people who have been kind to you.
“I believe all my life you give people from the little that you have and not from the excess that you have and the Bible is very clear on this as well. It is not how much you give or how much you have to give, but it is the intention of what you are giving and I am not in the business of accepting things from people and not giving,” Skerrit said.
Source link : https://caribbean.loopnews.com/content/dominica-pm-visit-hurricane-battered-grenada-st-vincent
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Publish date : 2024-07-10 08:45:55
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