Articles

Back to articles index

PRESS RELEASE
February 15, 2005

St. Lucia Govt Contributes $100,000 to Guyana Flood Relief

The Government of St. Lucia will contribute EC$100,000 to the Flood Relief Effort in Guyana. That’s the word from the Office of the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Dr Kenny D. Anthony met with representatives of the Guyana Government and the local Guyanese community at the Office of the Prime Minister on February 2, 2005.

During that meeting, the Government of St. Lucia invited the Guyanese representatives to discuss and identify the most effective ways in which the Government and People of St. Lucia could extend support to the Guyanese affected by the worst floods in the capital Georgetown and the country’s coastal region in a century.

The meeting agreed that there would be collaboration between the Government of St. Lucia, the Red Cross, the National Emergency Management Office (NEMO), with the Consulate of Guyana in St. Lucia and the St. Lucia Guyana Association.

St. Lucians and Guyanese in St. Lucia were invited after the meeting to send packages or cash, whichever was convenient. The services of the General Post Office were also mobilized to receive packages for the relief effort, which would be delivered to NEMO and the Red Cross free of charge.

The meeting also agreed that efforts would be accelerated to ensure the filling of a 40-foot container made available by CAGEMA shipping lines and coordinated by Baron’s Shipping.

At the meeting, the Guyanese representatives expressed the hope that the St. Lucia public and the private sector in particular, would assist in the efforts to help the flood victims.

The Prime Minister noted during the meeting, that although there was “a measure of aid fatigue” being expressed by some in the wake of having to help victims of Hurricane Ivan in Grenada and the tsunami victims in Asia, he nonetheless felt St. Lucians would contribute as they could to help the Guyanese flood victims.

He recalled that only days before on Friday, January 21, he had travelled to Grenada to attend a World Bank donors meeting, during which he handed over a cheque worth EC $148,000 to the Grenada Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell. The money had been collected from the six bank accounts established locally for the Grenada Appeal.

Announcing the $100,000 contribution today, Prime Minister Anthony said: “These are tough times for the Guyanese victims of the flood, which have resulted from the constantly changing climatic conditions worldwide.”

He continued: “These adverse weather conditions are causing unexpected havoc at the least expected times. And while we in St. Lucia have been spared the damage and destruction of Grenada or the flooding effects of Guyana, we may never know when it will be our turn.”

The Prime Minister, who is also the Chairman of NEMO, concluded: “It is in the nature of emergencies and disasters to strike unexpectedly, and when that happens, victims’ lives change overnight as we saw in both Grenada and the countries of Asia affected by the tsunami.

“That is why we are pleased to support victims of disasters when and where we can. We did it for Grenada and Asia and we are pleased to do it too for our Caricom neighbours in Guyana.”

The St. Lucia Government’s $100,000 contribution to the Guyana flood victims was welcomed by the Honorary Consul of Guyana to St. Lucia, Mr Lokesh Sing and by the President of the St. Lucia-Guyana Association, Mr Edward Harris.