Hurricane relief arrives from Trinidad and Tobago

Two 20-foot containers with aid from Trinidad and Tobago arrived here on Monday, November 8.The containers were offloaded at the Campden Park Port after the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard vessel ‘TTS Gaspar Grande’ docked with TT$51,000 worth of food and building supplies.{{more}}

The items included 300 sheets of galvanized iron, 120 sheets of ply wood and some basic food supplies, including bottled water, cases of tuna, milk and macaroni.

“It’s a substantial gift,” Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said as he received the items.

“It’s a gift we appreciate very much.

“This is an act of love by the people of Trinidad and Tobago manifest by the government to give the Government and people of St Vincent and the Grenadines these gifts,” Gonsalves continued.

He thanked the government of Trinidad and Tobago for the kind gesture, saying that the items would be accepted with “love, generosity and solidarity with which they have been granted on to us.

”Although refusing to comment directly on the controversial statements regarding reciprocal assistance to CARICOM countries affected by Hurricane Tomas made by Trinidadian leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, last week, PM Gonsalves instead referred to the good relations that this country currently has with the twin-island republic.

“These two countries – St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago – have what you call existential bonds,” he said.“The ties are unbreakable.”

The Prime Minister said that the ties were historical, extending as far back as 1979 when this country received aid from Trinidad and Tobago after the volcanic eruption and as recent as 2004 when the government of that country offered assistance in the wake of the passage of Tropical Storm Ivan.

Although there is a new government with a new prime minister, Gonsalves said, the friendship between the two countries continued to manifest itself.

“Because what we are talking about is the love,” Gonsalves said.“

Sometimes there may be a dissonance, but the love is unbreakable between us,” he further contended.

Meanwhile, Michele Forbes, Acting Director of the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO), said that her entity will supervise the distribution of the food supplies while the building materials will be under the management of the Housing and Land Development Corporation (HLDC). (DD)