The United States government has announced an additional US$2 million in aid for Eastern Caribbean nations still reeling from the devastating impact of Hurricane Beryl, the US embassy in Bridgetown said in a press release on Tuesday.
This latest funding, revealed at the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting in St George’s, Grenada, comes as local officials express frustration over the slow pace of international assistance.
The hurricane wreaked havoc across Barbados, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The worst of its wrath was felt in St Vincent’s Union Island, and Carriacou and Petite Martinique – two of the three main islands that make up the nation of Grenada – with widespread damage to infrastructure and the displacement of thousands of residents. One month later, signs of the devastation remain clearly visible.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) said the new funds, which are in addition to the over $4.5 million already pledged to the region for immediate recovery efforts related to the storm, would target regional economic resilience, with a focus on revitalising fisheries, agriculture, and small businesses in the affected countries.
“In a disaster like Hurricane Beryl, small businesses, including fisherfolk and farmers, are often the hardest hit. As a former small business owner, I am a strong advocate for United States leadership in supporting the recovery of fisheries, agriculture, and small and medium-size businesses,” the US ambassador to the Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Roger Nyhus, was quoted as saying in the release.
This latest contribution brings the total US investment in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean to over $29 million over the past two years through USAID, “to help countries and populations withstand external shocks — manmade and natural — that impede economic development and limit the region’s safety, security, and prosperity,” the release said.
(PR)
