DLP ‘to help people with challenges’ cope with ash

In response to the heavy blanket of ash that has descended upon the island over the weekend from St Vincent’s La Soufrière volcanic eruptions, the Democratic Labour Party is in the process of finalizing plans to assisting people having challenges with their health and other areas caused by the ashfall.

DLP Acting General Secretary Damien Griffith, who spoke during the party’s live Sunday discussion on the eruptions said that although initially, Barbadians believed that any effects from La Soufriere erupting would have been mild in nature for the island, the fall of ash over the last few days quickly put those thoughts to rest, as Barbadians now have to deal with the volcanic fallout.

He said: “What the party has to do, is to create spaces where we can assist people who are now in need. That is assistance to St. Vincent, and assistance locally, because some parts of the island are being affected more than others, I think that the north is consistently being hammered. If you see the pictures out of St. Lucy, it is even worse than St. Michael where I am. It now reinforces the need that we need to make sure everybody who can get, has access to masks because if you are talking about respiratory health, everyone needs to be wearing masks.

“We are looking at doing distributions, where we try to get masks to those most in need. We are also looking, because we have had several outreaches from St. Vincent about their needs, about getting water and other supplies that are very necessary.”

Griffith also revealed that the party intends to use its partnership with volunteering groups all around the island to help with the national cleaning up campaign, in particular for those elderly people within the community who may not be able to clean up the ash all on their own.

He said: “We also need to coordinate with volunteers who can assist the people around them who need immediate assistance and try to get those systems going.

“The party has a network that can assist with this, we have done it before, and I think that we are always ready, willing, and capable of stepping forward when asked to.” (SB)