Barbados acting up to damage sustained

Barbados sustained subsequent devastation and damage by the life-threatening tropical storm, Hurricane Beryl. A damage assessment will eventually be carried out in the following days to determine the losses endured by the fishing industry of Barbados during the passage of Beryl, in which several vessels sunk or were damaged.

Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados stated about the assessment during her visit to the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex. She was on the visit to survey the destruction caused by the hurricane, accompanied by the fisherfolk who were there to assess the condition of their vessels. The PM described the view to be horrific.

PM Mottley, while briefing the media and members of the fishing community, assured the affected boat owners and fishers of proper assistance by the government, after a proper assessment of the situation and damage has been done.

During the visit, The PM was accompanied by-

Wilfred Abrahams, Minister of Home Affairs and Information.

Kerry Hinds, Director of the Department of Emergency Management.

Adrian Forde, Minister of the Environment and Natural Beautification, Blue and Green Economy.

Dr. Shelly-Ann Cox, Chief Fisheries Officer.

PM Mottley, while describing the next step to be taken, said that an immediate clean-up of the market will be carried out to avoid any further injuries to the locals and to reopen the market to the public. The other actions to be taken parallelly will be removing the vessels that have been damaged beyond repair, the area to be secured by the police using caution tapes to the curious onlookers off the area and a team to be assembled in the complex by Dr. Cox, the Chief Fisheries Officer, to carry forth the assessment of the damage.

The Fishers community and local fisheries are important for Barbados as they contribute to the small-scale business activities, food and nutrition security and also to the Gross Domestic Product. The community contribution ranges from US $12 million to US $16 million per annum to the Barbados GDP. The main fisheries in Barbados include the shallow-shelf reef, bank-reef, flying fish, sea eggs, sea turtles and so on.

The PM stated that if they don’t have a complete knowledge about the situation and damages done, the government can’t sum up the total damage endured by the industry. She added that the Chief Fisheries Officer can extend the helping hand until all the information such as boat insurance, damage done to the boats along with the details of the boats that have sunk, their registration numbers and the names of the owners.

The plan for the expansion of the fishing complex will be revised to make it well rooted and resilient to withstand stronger hurricanes, said PM Mottley.

The affected can register their loss and give an assessment on the same at the official link mentioned below-

https://bit.ly/3zoigxr