Residents of Fancy line up to collect food as the island recovers from storm damage (Photo Kenton Chance)KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Friday January 3, 2014, CMC – Prime Minister D. Ralph Gonslaves says the Christmas Eve extreme weather event has created two St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“It is a difficult time, and people are suffering. So we have two St. Vincent and the Grenadines: one which is normal, and the other one which is anguished and pained,” he said at the handing ceremony of the terminal building at the multi-million dollar Argyle International Airport to the International Airport Development Company.
“Across this country, people have lost their beds, their furnishings, their cooking utensils, their stoves, their fridges; laptops given by the state are destroyed; books, clothing, shoes, everything is lost; every single things,” he said.
Gonsalves said that the disaster, which has also damaged public infrastructure extensively, is the worst in living memory. At least nine people have been confirmed dead, four missing.
The government said that the cost to repair the damage caused by the low level trough that also affected neighbouring islands of St. Lucia and Dominica, was estimated at “hundreds of millions of dollars”.
“People are suffering, no question about it. Families which have been vulnerable, within 24 hours have descended not just into poverty, but indigence. Families which have been poor, have become indigent; and those who are indigent are waiting for our help,” Gonsalves said, adding that the first task of the government would be to see after the immediate needs of the people.
He said as of Wednesday, 85 per cent of the country had water restored “but large number of persons who got up this morning had no water to drink or to bathe in”.
Gonsalves said that those without water have as a “serious challenge” normal bodily function, in terms of waste disposal, which were taken for granted.
“So I want us all to remember that as we go about our work,” Gonsalves said, adding that over 300 people were homeless, with 240 living in emergency shelters.
“But the numbers of the persons who are living in accommodation, which accommodation is wholly unsatisfactory are several times that number,” he said, adding that some persons do not want to go to emergency shelters.
Gonsalves said that there were persons who have not lost their home either partially or wholly, but their homes have been ravaged by water.
“In areas of the countryside, the mud has been cleaned and some people are sleeping on cardboard,” Gonsalves said, adding that the “remarkable thing” is that Vincentians have responded with “such resilience and stoicism”.
“The sharing which is taking place is extensive and commendable. I see in this disaster the seeds of a new St. Vincent and the Grenadines — different and better, and we must keep our focus.”
