Premier Aims To Assist Hurricane Relief Efforts
Premier David Burt said he “joins the global community in expressing his heartbreak following the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Beryl” and “that he intends to ask the Cabinet to approve a donation towards the relief effort to assist those who have been affected by the storm.”
A Government spokesperson said, “This week Bermuda watched alongside the global community as the major hurricane moved across the Caribbean, dealing catastrophic damage to the Grenadine islands of Carriacou, Petit Martinique and Union; while also bringing significant flooding and power outages in Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, and the Cayman Islands. Latest reports indicate that Beryl has caused at least 10 deaths across the region.
“On Tuesday [July 2], Premier Burt attended an emergency meeting with all the CARICOM Heads of Government to discuss disaster relief and the restoration efforts taking place in the affected Caribbean nations.”
Premier Burt said, “It was a solemn meeting, as we were all affected by the devastation that had been caused by Hurricane Beryl. During that meeting, Bermuda committed to assist the CARICOM disaster relief efforts and relayed that Bermuda’s prayers were with all the countries in the Caribbean during this uncertain and difficult time. It was heartening to see all of us unite and galvanise our collective resources to assist our friends and neighbors in need.”
The Government spokesperson said, “As a note, Premier Burt was scheduled to travel to Grenada from July 3-5, for the 47th Regular Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government [HoG]. However, the HoG Meeting was postponed due to Hurricane Beryl.”
Each year there is $50,000 that is placed in the Government Budget for regional disaster support that is available to be used to assist CARICOM countries if needed.
I have great sympathy for the residents hit by Hurricane Beryl, but I also worry about us making donations to other islands when we are not preparing to pay down on the nearly $4 billion in current debt we already owe.
We should not be giving money. If anything, perhaps some of our government workers or regiment can go overs for a one week period to help with then clean up as part of their normal duties.
Money just goes in the wrong pockets and the people do not benefit.
PLP give everything away to foreigners.
The hurricane’s impact has been devastating. Homes, schools, communities in Grenada Carriacou, and St Elizabeth, Jamaica have been ravaged by Beryl, I am so proud that our country can help support our sisters and brothers in the region. The scary part is that we are only in the first week o July, it is worrying what August and September is going to bring.
$50,000 to Caricom. A pittance when it is spread around all the impacted areas, and the usual “admin costs” are taken out. The people will see nothing.
Hurricane relief is costly, I do agree. However as a world leader in hurricane preparedness it is more important that we extend our knowledge base to other countries so that they can start their work on infrastructure improvements so that they are able to withstand hurricanes better. I think we take it for granted that we have built up our island for just about a century now maybe a little longer to withstand hurricanes better. We have gotten so comfortable with our houses and infrastructure and even our response time that we do things that others would never even consider before a hurricane. While most countries evacuate and stockpile the necessary supplies Bermudian literally plan parties. Liquor stores, the weed man and generators are our new priorities. We are complaining if our lights and Wi-Fi go off. We feel slighted if the power is off for a few days or the internet for a few hours. We would like to boast about the community coming together and working together to get the island back together but in reality we don’t do that anymore. We leave it up to the regiment, w&e and parks department. We don’t even close our businesses until the last possible minute. Never mind that people would rather be home ensuring their families are safe business is more important nowadays. The strong generation that preceded us has made life very easy and we have become more and more weak as a result.
So again I say we should be teaching others how to build up their infrastructure to be better prepared for a hurricane and hopefully we will take heart from that and keep ourselves prepared. Change this prevailing mindset that nothing bad happens to us. Fabian proved otherwise and the slackness that we take towards causeway closures needs improvement. Just as soon as waves are encroaching the causeway is a hazardous roadway. Specialized training and vehicles are required for navigating such hazardous conditions and yet our government has an arbitrary wind speed as the determining factor. It should be eyes on approach the entire causeway can be seen from the airport observation area and also from the government quarry. Once waves are encroaching the roadway closure to the general public should be immediate. If crossing is absolutely necessary then passengers should be taken across by qualified drivers in vehicles purposefully built for those conditions.
Have a blessed day