Regional crisis supplies hub opens in Barbados

The Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub and Centre of Excellence was officially inaugurated at Grantley Adams International Airport, on Monday, with the prime minister describing Barbados as an ideal location.

Stressing that the hub is a life-saving facility that will significantly strengthen the region’s ability to respond quickly to disasters and humanitarian crises, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley said, “Barbados is the most easterly, [therefore] a judgment was made that this is probably the safest place.”

She explained, “If you have to wait on stuff to come from Panama, that’s 1 200 miles away. If you have to bring stuff from Miami, 1 500 miles away.”

Mottley said the hub’s primary function would be to get food, medicine and critical supplies to affected populations within the first 48 to 72 hours after a major emergency, since time is often the difference between life and death.

“This hub is about saving lives. Let’s be very, very clear,” she told attendees, including representatives from the diplomatic corps, regional agencies and international development partners.

“It is not just limited to emergency responses for disasters. It is also going to be for humanitarian crises.”

She further referenced what she described as the “utterly devastating situation in Haiti” where “almost half the population is deemed to be suffering from food insecurity.”

The prime minister said the hub was a logical extension of the country’s growing role in regional coordination and would allow for pre-positioning essential relief items closer to high-risk areas so as to reduce response times by as much as seven days.

Located adjacent to the M Jet FBO hangar at the airport, the state-of-the-art facility is equipped with 2 500 square metres of storage space, 1 300 pallet positions, and temperature-controlled cold storage.

The hub was developed by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in partnership with the Government of Barbados and with funding support from Canada, the European Union, USAID, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

WFP’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Lola Castro, said the launch was a critical step in improving emergency response in a region vulnerable to multiple hazards.

“Having seen how devastating hurricanes and other hazards can be in the Caribbean, we are proud to have this Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub in place. WFP works with partners in the region and globally to enhance national response mechanisms to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of disaster response in order to save lives,” she said.

Executive Director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), Elizabeth Riley, described the hub as the realisation of a long-standing vision that began during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This transformative initiative marks a critical advancement in the region’s capacity to respond swiftly and effectively to emergencies through the Regional Response Mechanism,” Riley said, noting that CDEMA activations have surged, from two between 2000 and 2009 to eight in the last five years alone, with 84 per cent triggered by climate-related hazards.

She added that the Centre of Excellence housed within the facility will play a key role in building the capacity of disaster responders across the region through training, simulation, and shared practice.

Mottley echoed those sentiments and stressed that facilities like the hub must be matched by a shift in public behaviour and regional self-reliance.

“I thank the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who have been pivotal to this morning’s opening, along with the European Union, the Canadian government, and the American government. But I believe we have to find more ways of getting philanthropy in the region to step up to the plate,” she said, adding that the hub still needs to be stocked to 35 to 40 per cent capacity in the coming weeks.

She also tied the hub into Barbados’ broader resilience-building agenda, including the Resilience and Regeneration Fund announced in March, which aims to pool roughly $40 to $50 million annually from workers, businesses, and government.

“That’s our insurance policy,” the Prime Minister said.

“If you help yourself, it makes it easier for others to help you. That’s why we say, ‘Tek warning.’ That message will be repeated over and over, because there ain’t no turning back. This is the new reality of the world in which we live.” (SM)