Part of its contribution to humanitarian relief efforts for Dominicans and other Caribbean nationals displaced by the recent back to back hurricanes, could see Guyana offering some of its land to these individuals.
Hurricane Irma ravaged British Virgin Islands (Pride News Magazine)
This is according to President David Granger, who was speaking to members of the local media on the sidelines of a United Nations summit in New York. According to Granger, it is something that could be pursued as Guyana has the most land mass in the Caribbean Community (Caricom).
“We are the largest Caribbean Community state and we have to consider our land space as being the hinterland of the Caribbean. We have to sit down and speak to other Caricom states to see how this gift could be utilised to give the Caribbean people a better life in the wake of these disasters,” he related.
A delegation from the Guyana Government had conducted a needs assessment in several Caribbean states, in the wake of Hurricane Irma. The delegation recently returned from Antigua, St Maarten and the British Virgin Islands.
Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix, who spearheaded that team, on Thursday met with members of the local media corps and briefed them on some of the relief initiatives Government is currently considering and to provide a first-hand account of the extent of the devastation.
According to Minister Felix, in addition to food, building and medical supplies, some of the affected Guyanese have been inquiring about the possible evacuation from the devastated islands to Guyana, specifically of school-aged children.
He explained that many of the Guyanese have expressed a willingness to remain on the Caribbean islands in order to cash in on the rebuilding efforts.
According to Felix, the information supplied to him and his team indicates that in St Maarten, there are some 7000 Guyanese domiciled, while in Tortola, BVI, the population stands around 1500.
The devastation in St Marteen
With category five winds and rain, Irma was one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded over the Atlantic Ocean.
It has completely devastated Barbuda, and affected jurisdictions such as St Maarten, St Barts, St Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Anguilla, Turks and Caicos, and the British Virgin Islands.
The freak of nature claimed the life of Derek Ragnauth, a Guyanese native who resided on the eastern end of Tortola – the largest in the chain of British Virgin Islands (BVI). Ragnauth reportedly perished when the building he was in collapsed, as the monster storm tore through BVI.
Caricom Chairman, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell of Grenada, in a public statement from the body stated, “The Community stands ready to render whatever assistance it can to assist in the recovery efforts which are being coordinated by CDEMA (the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency).”
Guyana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge has been quoted in local media reports indicating that Government was exploring the possibility of evacuating citizens from hard-hit areas such as St Martin.
