Following the devastating outcomes of what was perhaps one of the most intense hurricane seasons to hit the region, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has announced the launch of a disaster relief fund to aid the recovery efforts currently underway in a number of Caribbean countries.
This is after four states were unable to participate in the Commonwealth Games of 2017, which prompted the Regional Conference of the Americas and Caribbean to turn attention to deliberating on ways in which the international body can lend assistance to victims of the natural disasters that have only weeks ago wreaked havoc within the region.
Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo is joined by CGF president, Louise Martin, and other officials at the CGF Regional Conference
Emanating from the conference, the Federation has moved to set up a disaster relief fund, with hopes of commencing operations early enough to rescue those nations hit by tropical cyclones Irma, Jose, and most recently Maria.
This intention was indicated by the President of the CGF, Louise Martin, while she addressed the media at the closing of this year’s forum on Sunday.
While Martin expressed her delight in participating in this year’s conference, she relayed regrets, given that four teams were unable to participate in the 2017 Games given that their countries were being pummeled by the vicious hurricanes.
On that note, she conveyed, “It is a pleasure to be here, but in many ways it is a sad occasion, because our athletes could not be here because of the hurricanes. However, yesterday (Sunday) we had workshops all day, working towards the forward plan over this next year. One of the areas we debated was what this region can do to help those affected by the hurricanes.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo in his address to the gathering of multi-national representatives, said, “We would like to request that, in your games, you could think about symbolic events dedicated to raising funds and other assistance for our citizens in the Caribbean.”
He pointed out that the intervention of Governments is not enough, given the extent of the damages left behind by the string of hurricanes which have hit the region.
The Prime Minister is now heading a ministerial task force, in partnership with Civil Defence Commission (CDC) and Risk Reduction Platform, which seeks to provide support to the affected islands as they embark on both short and long term reconstruction.
As such, both the task force and the impending regional disaster relief fund are geared at offering direct assistance to ensure the recovery of the Caribbean states, particularly the more affected nations such as St Martin, Dominica, the British Virgin Islands, and to some extent Antigua and Barbuda.
