La Soufrière volcano
…shipment leaves today

Decades of inactivity ended this week for the La Soufrière volcano, and eruptions have left blankets of ash and debris on the island of St Vincent and the Grenadines, prompting evacuation for thousands of people.
To cushion the devastating crisis caused by ongoing volcanic activity and rumbling explosions, Guyana has managed to source 350 tonnes of relief supplies to assist its fellow Caribbean country.
President Dr Irfaan Ali told media operatives on Monday that Government is gearing towards continuous support and these efforts are spearheaded by Prime Minister, Brigadier (retired) Mark Phillips. The first shipment, expected to leave today, contains food supplies, personal protective equipment, cleaning materials, water and other articles which were requested by St Vincent.
“This will be continuous support. What St Vincent is going through is not going to be a one-off event. All we can, we have worked on mobilising, with the Private Sector, various commodities. The Prime Minister himself is looking at this. We’re trying to get at least 350 tonnes of items. This is what this shipment will take and then during the course of the week, we’re going to send more items,” the Head of State revealed.

Dr Ali said the challenge in delivering relief has been logistics. But since the undertaking to lend support was announced, the local Private Sector has played an instrumental role in mobilising their contribution as well.
“We are now mobilising the black tanks that would go later in the week. The greatest difficulty is the logistics in this but we have had tremendous goodwill from the Private Sector and we will be able to, at least in a continuous manner, support St Vincent.”

Dr Ralph Gonsalves