PM Skerrit extends support to Beryl affected nations, recalls devastation faced by Dominica

Roseau, Dominica: The Prime Minister of Commonwealth of Dominica, Dr. Roosevelt Skerrit extended support to the families in Potterville, Scottshead and other communities along Dominica’s West Coast who have been displaced due to damages caused by high sea wells associated with Hurricane Beryl.

Recently, the leader of the nation shed light on the support he extended to the families affected by Hurricane Beryl. He noted that Dominica has definitely gone through damage, and there are several families whose homes were flooded by the origin seeds and along the West Coast from Scottshead all the way up North.

He further added that they are trying to make their best possible efforts in order to provide support to the affected families. However, he asserted that the seed getting more inland is a huge concern for Dominica and they are trying to define a permanent solution for the same which is to get as many people off the coast as possible.

PM Skerrit remarked that there is a bigger challenge as well, which is that the residents of the communities are accustomed to living along the coastline. He stated that this is the way of their life and it is their culture.

The leader of the nation also provided financial assistance to neighbouring countries like Grenada, Carriacou, Petite Martinique and St Vincent and the Grenadines. He stated that he will extend its full support to the nations in their difficult times who had to face a wrath of Hurricane. Along with that, he also added that he received a comprehensive report from each of the Prime Ministers of those affected nations in a CARICOM meeting.

PM Skerrit remarked that the nations like Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada have faced huge devastation from the Hurricane Beryl. Therefore, these nations need all of the help from the international community and from their neighbouring nations as well. He added that Dominica have made an initial contribution to each of the affected countries and they will soon start the process of having those funds transferred to them.

He also asserted that they have offered Barbados to send in boat builders in order to assist the reconstruction of the boat. The leader of the nation further added that they will continue to being in touch with government to help them on these hard times.

Prime Minister Skerrit also highlighted on mobilizing skillsmen and tradesmen of Dominica in order to assist the affected nations in the reconstruction of their roofs. He also stated that they standby those nations and are mobilizing support to them as they understand and appreciate the tremendous show of solidarity and support that Dominica received after Hurricane Maria.

PM also focused on the principle which he follows “we don’t give from the excess that we have, we give from the little that we have.”

Furthermore, the Prime Minister added that this hurricane could come at the worst time when the world was grappling with serious financial challenges. He added that the cost of living has increased because of the import of inflation, and to compound this with this hurricane at this time is not good news for many families.

The Prime Minister also talked about the challenges faced by the nation and the way they came out of all those challenges. He noted that they initially suffered devastation from Tropical Storm Erika following Hurricane Maria, COVID-19, and then the Russia-Ukraine war started. He added that those challenges were compounded, which made them even more difficult, but they still found solutions to address those issues.

He stated that the challenges what the countries like St Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados and Grenada are going through, he can completely understand that. He further added that it is very essential for the international community to extend their support to help them.