PM pledges aid as hurricane sinks vessels

Category 4 Hurricane Beryl has dealt a “horrific” blow to the fishing industry, crucial to the island’s food security and economy, ministers declared on Monday. 

Prime Minister Mia Mottley described Beryl’s impact as “horrifying” during a visit to the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex, where unprecedented high surf had sunk or severely damaged several fishing boats.

Mottley, accompanied by senior officials including Minister of Home Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams and Minister of the Environment and National Beautification Adrian Forde, assured distraught boat owners that her government would provide assistance following a proper assessment of the damage. 

“We can’t do an assessment today,” she stated, citing dangerous water conditions and urging divers to begin work on Tuesday morning.

Mottley called for the complex to be cleaned and cordoned off to facilitate assessment and related works.

“There is too much damage and too much debris that can cause somebody to end up at A&E [Accident and Emergency Department]. Therefore, we are asking the police to put caution tape and nobody who has no business out there should be out there. We want, by tomorrow morning, at least a clean area behind there, so that whatever else we have to do, we can do safely,” she said.

The PM added: “Once we finish securing the area, then we have to clean it up and make it clean for people to come and do their business. But this is clearly an exercise that will take some days or weeks in order for us to even get to the beginning of it.”

Kurtis Watson, a veteran fisherman, predicted further destruction due to the unusually high waves.

“Right now all of the boats are being destroyed because the sea swells just coming over the wall and mashing up the boats,” he warned.

The prime minister emphasised the need for immediate action, warning of another approaching weather system. 

“I am told there are still a few boats in there that have not been damaged, and we to be able to see if we can get those boats out and put into the inner careenage,” she said. 

The PM disclosed that consideration was being given to relocating some of the boats to the Shallow Draft Facility at the Bridgetown Port.

Environment Minister Adrian Forde labelled the situation “horrific and devastating”, pointing to it as stark evidence of climate change. “This is a fact check; and the fact check is that what we see before us is real,” Forde told Barbados TODAY.

“All I can do is to implore persons to recognise that we have to build resilience – resilience personally and as a country. The way how we mitigate and adapt to these challenges is something we will have to deal with in the not too distant future.”

Kemar Harris, chairman of the fisheries advisory committee, described the destruction as “a great loss to the fishing industry”, with fishermen, boat owners, and vendors “in tears” over their sunken and destroyed vessels.

The government is now reconsidering plans for expanding the Bridgetown Fishing harbour, which Mottley revealed were not designed to withstand a Category 2 or 3 hurricane. 

“Ironically, it was only last week we were talking about the expansion of this Bridgetown fishing harbour. I met with the consultants who had done some work on it, and we were aware that it cannot withstand a Category 3 hurricane or potentially a Category 2,” the prime minister said.

She indicated that future public facilities would undergo reviews to improve climate resilience.

As the island grapples with the aftermath, Mottley stressed the need for individual cooperation from the fisherfolk to assess the damage and plan for future protection of the remaining fleet. She reminded them: “Like it or not, this is the beginning of the season, it is not the end.”

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb