Acting Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry Limited (GBTI), Chief Executive Officer James Foster on Monday presented a cheque valued $1,538,000 generated from the GBTI Haiti Disaster Relief Fund to Prime Minister, Retired Brigadier Mark Phillips.
Foster said GBTI activated the Fund following the devastating earthquake in August and encouraged public support.
The donation is a collective effort of the GBTI, its employees, and members of the public who willingly joined the effort. Prime Minister Phillips lauded GBTI’s corporate initiative and expressed best wishes for continued growth.
GBTI CEO (ag) James Foster presents the cheque to Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips on Monday
Meanwhile, GBTI extended its gratitude to all those who contributed to the Fund aimed at offering support to the Government and people of Haiti. The Fund was set up by the Bank following a 7.2 magnitude earthquake which left over 2000 people dead, more than 12,000 injured, and hundreds of thousands of buildings as well as infrastructure in the southern region of Haiti destroyed.
The country had also experienced at least 600 aftershocks since the mid-August quake. Earlier in the year, the banking institution handed over $3.4 million – the money raised through donations to assist the volcano-ravaged St Vincent and the Grenadines.
In April, the La Soufrière volcano erupted after decades of dormancy and left blankets of ash and debris.
The University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre had reported evidence of pyroclastic flows, as an avalanche of heated gas and debris travelled at more than 120 miles per hour (193.1 kilometres per hour) along the mountainside.
The volcanic ash moved with the winds and affected neighbouring islands including Barbados, St Lucia, and Grenada.
