Barbados: After the week-long closure of Grantley Adams Airport due to the ashfall from La Soufrière volcano in St Vincent, the first plane landed was a JetBlue aeroplane from Boston, followed by an American Airlines flight from Charlette and Miami and British Airways flights from London and Antigua.
Barbados’s Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced a massive cleanup of the operational areas, passenger facilities and roadways leading to the Airport terminal.
Major construction companies and clean up crews worked on the cleanup operation, which covered every area of the Airport, from air traffic control facilities to runways, communications equipment and arrival and departure areas.
On this, Lisa Cummins, Barbados’s Minister of Tourism and International Transport, said,- “The return of flights to Barbados is not only significant to the economy of Barbados but also critical to humanitarian operations in St Vincent and the Grenadines.”
Due to heavy ashfall, St Vincent’s Argyle airport remains closed. Prime Minister of St Vincent and Grenadines -Ralph Gonsalves asked the United Nations Security Council for relief assistance and to help the country with the recovery efforts.
The World Meteorological Organisation, on April 16, tweeted that the Sulphur dioxide(SO2) emissions from the La Soufriere volcano eruption in the Caribbean have also reached India. On April 18, St Vincent and Grenadines was again hit by another volcanic eruption blanketing with another ash layer.
Sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions from #LaSoufriere volcano eruption in the Caribbean have reached all the way to #India, as seen Thursday by @CopernicusECMWF #Sentinel5p
via @PlatformAdam pic.twitter.com/r4SeaLUx3w— World Meteorological Organization (@WMO) April 16, 2021
Thousands of inhabitants are in public and private shelters. In many parts of the Island, the water system are shut. According to PM Gonsalves, In January 2020, St Vincent and Grenadines was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for a term of two years.
In the West Indies, La Soufrière volcano on St Vincent and Grenadines Island started erupting on April 9 after emitting out lava into a dome. The last time the volcano had erupted was in 1979.
Ramanjot Kaur is a dedicated journalist with a Master’s in Journalism and Mass Communication, specializing in economic and political news reporting with incisive analysis and integrity.
