St Vincent and Grenadines: Food for the Poor organization, Florida based office has shipped 10 containers of relief supplies to St Vincent and Grenadines to help the inhabitants who are affected by the La Soufriere’s volcanic eruption.
The executive director of the Spanish Town-based headquarters of Food For the Poor-Kivette Silvera, stated, “The organization has also sent two containers of water, donated by the WISYNCO. When we heard that there was an issue, our Florida office quickly jumped into action and Food for the Poor will assist even after the emergency phase.”
St Vincent and the Grenadines’s Consul- June Barbour, is grateful for the assistance. She painted a stern picture of the conditions in which the volcano hit the Caribbean country and announced, “Everything above ground is damaged, the agricultural sector is devastated and cannot be recovered soon, trees have been broken, vegetables destroyed, the ash has destroyed the grassland and the livestock.”
Barbour further stated, “Most farmers were preparing to reap their crops to supply existing markets in Trinidad and Barbados, but have now suffered great loss and the water resources both land and sea have been affected by the eruption. For example- Rivers have turned into steaming streams going out as far as three miles into the sea.”
The COVID-19 vaccination programme of St Vincent and Grenadines has also being affected by the displacements caused by the effusive volcanic eruptions.
On the COVID-19 vaccination status, she said, “Many people in the shelters have been receiving vaccines, once they got to the shelters they have received vaccines, that has been resolved at a certain level, but because of the continued volcanic eruptions other people would not have been able to access vaccines because of limited outside movement easily.”
June Barbour further declared, “Discussions have started about the resettlement of residents who lived in the red zone area. However, there are complexities involved in the construction and the immediate emphasis on restoring agriculture, and it might take some time for these settlements.”
“OECS countries, neighbouring governments and other Caribbean countries, the United States and the United Kingdom have been providing them assistance. Food for the Poor is now organizing a relief drive for St Vincent and Grenadines and is appealing to individuals and corporations to support it,” she added.
