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SOME 25 containers left Port Georgetown for Grenada on the MV Hannibal yesterday as Guyanese intensified efforts to help Grenadians cope with life after the devastation of the island by Hurricane Ivan on September 7 last. The containers, loaded with relief supplies as part of a joint initiative by the government and the private sector, are being shipped to the Spice Isle free of cost by Sea Freight Line, a local cargo company. Had the organisers paid for the shipment, it would have cost them about G$9M, co-organiser Chris Fernandes said yesterday. The ship is expected to arrive in Grenada on Friday after stops in Suriname and Trinidad. The government and the private sector have been taking separate steps to help Grenada rebuild after Hurricane Ivan destroyed more than 90 per cent of the country. But the two sides agreed to work together to avoid duplication and maximise efforts by Guyana to contribute a significant percentage of the assistance that storm-ravaged Grenada needs to get back on its feet. The Guyana Government last month announced it was making a substantial contribution to help Grenada recover after the devastation by Hurricane Ivan. President Bharrat Jagdeo said the government has decided to convert the sale of a shipment of sugar to Grenada into part of its contribution to the storm-ravaged island. The shipment, which has already been offloaded in a Grenada harbour, is worth G$40M. The government has agreed to absorb the cost of the consignment to Grenada, paying the money to the Guyana Sugar Corporation on behalf of the Grenada Government. President Jagdeo briefed reporters on Guyana’s initial contribution after he returned from the hurricane crisis emergency summit of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders in Trinidad last month. Other forms of assistance Guyana will be contributing to Grenada that have not yet been quantified in dollars, include: * the disbursement, to Grenada, of a yet-to-be-determined percentage of existing loans to Guyana from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB); * the deployment of 100 soldiers to Grenada to help provide security but more especially to help in emergency clean-up and rebuilding exercises over the next six months; * the acceptance of a number of Fifth and Sixth form students who are preparing to write their CXC examinations; * the government’s acceptance of responsibility for reapportioning Grenada’s obligations to regional institutions; * the offer of assistance to families of Guyanese in Grenada and to bring back Guyanese in Grenada who want to return, temporarily or otherwise. President Jagdeo said he has asked CDB President Dr. Compton Bourne to check on how the loan disbursement to Grenada is possible. The CARICOM Secretariat will let the government know how many students from Grenada will be coming to Guyana to resume their studies for CXC examinations, he said. President Jagdeo said his administration will be paying a stipend to each of the families with whom the students will be staying. Mr. Jagdeo also reiterated his pleasure at efforts by individuals, the private sector, religious bodies, non-governmental organisations and civil society to send help to Grenada. He said now that he has had a better picture of the situation there, the Guyana Government will be working especially with the private sector to improve the logistics of Grenada-bound contributions. The leaders at the meeting in Trinidad also looked at Hurricane Ivan’s damage in Jamaica, Cuba, Saint Lucia, Barbados, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. No one from the Cayman Islands attended the meeting to update the CARICOM leaders on the extent of the storm damage there. "What I found heartening is that although those countries also suffered hurricane damage, they all urged that we focus our contributions on Grenada," President Jagdeo said. And for good reason. Conservative estimates point to Grenada having lost a minimum of EC$10 billion or about US$3.5 billion to Hurricane Ivan. That’s ten times the country’s GDP. "And that’s a very conservative assessment," the President stressed. "We were told that Grenada’s losses could be as much as EC$20 billion... so what we have is a country that has lost everything...a country that will not have any source of revenue for several months." In addition to destroying about 90 per cent of Grenada’s buildings and virtually all of its infrastructures, utilities and industries, Hurricane Ivan killed at least 20 people and injured many others in the country on September 7. |
