The restoration efforts being made by foreign countries towards those that were affected by the Christmas floods is “a business of solidarity, of fraternity and friendship”.{{more}}

During his visit to St Vincent and the Grenadines last Thursday, president of the Regional Council of Martinique Serge Letchimy expressed this opinion.

“In the case of this natural disaster, we have to ask ourselves a lot of questions so we have to stop what we are doing to express our solidarity and this is what I did for the people of St Lucia and St Vincent. This is a business of solidarity, of fraternity and friendship”, Letchimy said, while speaking at a press conference.

Letchimy stated that the first thing that should be addressed when there is a hurricane or bad weather, is helping the population.

The president further revealed that Martinique had reponded to the needs of St Vincent and the Grenadines, following the floods, by providing mattresses, water and food.

“Additionally to these…humanitarian assistance, we also are here to provide technical assistance on the basis of our experience of managing natural disasters,” he said.

“In the area of technical assistance, we can provide support in the area of prevention and alert in situations of infrastructure. It is very important to have a solid system of alert surveillance on the state of this infrastructure and bridges.”

Letchimy was accompanied by a representative of the Ambassador of France, specialized engineers and persons from the Red Cross.

The president and his officials, who only visited for one day, visited the Vermont area to see first-hand some of the damage. Letchimy was greeted warmly by residents and even sampled hot bread from a bakery in the area.(BK)