ST. GEORGE, July 4 (NNN-ACN) — The president of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced that the regional organization had sent the first aid shipment to the island of Grenada after the devastating passage on that nation by hurricane Beryl.
The humanitarian aid was handed in to Grenada’s Minister for Climate Resilience, the Environment and Renewable Energy, Kerryne James, at the Maurice Bishop international airport.
The shipment includes power generators, water-purification tablets, batteries, hygiene products and other items, said Ali, who is also President of Guyana.
The CARICOM leader called an emergency meeting of the bloc on Tuesday morning to assess the damage caused by the hurricane, which is still barreling westwards through the Caribbean sea.
Ali called on all citizens and the private sector in the region to make close coordination with their governments and regional organizations to give an emergency and relief response to the affected communities in the Caribbean.
Four persons reportedly died under the effects of Beryl in Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, thought the death tall could increase as the total damage is assessed, according to local authorities in the Caribbean nations.
Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell told reporters that a man was killed after a tree collapsed over his home, while another two citizens died in the island of Carriacou.
The Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, announced one death in the territory of Bequia, while he did not discard other victims in Union Island, which suffered 90 percent of its infrastructure. — NNN-ACN
