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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM |
 The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) today received, at a regular meeting, a report on the damages caused by torrential rains over Christmas in the countries of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia and Dominica.
The Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ambassador La Celia Prince, who requested the inclusion of the item on the agenda, said that on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day “a low-level, high impact trough system passed through the Eastern Caribbean region, dumping enormous quantities of rain over parts of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, taking lives, livelihoods, homes and vital infrastructure.” The diplomat recalled that the intense rains led to the deaths of nine people in her country, with four more missing, and said that the disaster affected 15 percent of the population of the country and caused immense damage in the agricultural sector.
Ambassador Prince expressed the gratitude of her country to the countries which have thus far contributed to relief and reconstruction efforts, as well as to the OAS and other international organizations for their support, and called on the international community and her country’s diaspora to contribute to relief and reconstruction efforts. She said that what happened in the Caribbean “is an indication of the climate change problem that is affecting our world.”
For her part, the Permanent Representative of Saint Lucia to the OAS, Ambassador Sonia Johnny, said the rains caused six deaths in her country, and affected the lives of hundreds of others who lost their homes. "The full economic cost of the damage has not yet been determined,” said Ambassador Johnny. “It is clear however that the cost of reconstruction will run into several hundred million dollars.”
The Permanent Representative of Dominica, Ambassador Hubert Charles, said that the disaster highlights the need to consider the vulnerability to major disasters that affect small Caribbean countries. "The government of Dominica was saddled with an unplanned tab of almost 50 million Eastern Caribbean dollars,” said Ambassador Charles, who called for the issue of vulnerability of small states to be recognized as a "core imperative" in the Council and in the programs of the OAS. In its conclusion, the diplomat urged countries to provide "greater support for the United Nations agenda on climate change and the protection of the environment, particularly as they relate to vulnerable small island states."
The Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Albert Ramdin, expressed condolences to the affected countries in his name and that of the Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, and acknowledged that " the impact of the disaster has been felt at all levels " of the Caribbean nations affected by the climate phenomenon. "The Organization of American States reiterates its full support to the governments, people and representatives of all countries affected by the floods and landslides,” he said. He added that "the OAS, through its affiliation with the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has been monitoring the situation and providing, where possible, immediate support.”
“We stand and will continue to stand in solidarity with the affected countries. And believe that efforts to mobilize financial, material and technical assistance should continue beyond the emergency period,” said Ramdin. “The OAS is committed through its sustainable development programs to assist in natural disaster mitigation and risk reduction programs. For this purpose, the OAS has a mechanism to discuss these issues and I will convene a formal meeting at a technical level early next week of the Inter-American Committee on Natural Disaster Reduction,” said Ramdin.
The representatives of Grenada, Jamaica, Haiti, Suriname, the United States, Canada, Barbados, Colombia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Mexico and a representative of the Observer Mission of the European Union all took the floor to speak on the issue.
For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.
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