The NDP has received pledges to the tune of $26,000.00 from their recent radiothon, and according to party president Arnhim Eustace, the pledges continue to come in.{{more}}

The radiothon was held last Tuesday to raise funds to cover custom duties and other charges for overseas relief items shipped to the party for distribution to persons affected by last December’s devastating heavy rains and floods. The NDP had refused to request duty free concessions through the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) as stipulated by the Government, saying it did not want the disaster relief agency involved in its relief efforts. Instead the party applied to Cabinet for the concessions and was refused.

After initially threatening to protest the Government’s decision, the NDP eventually opted instead to seek the public support to raise the required funds, which was estimated at between 15 and 20 thousand dollars.

Eustace pointed to social media as one of the places where commitments to funds continue to be communicated to the party, adding that persons have been sending transaction numbers to confirm their contributions from the diaspora. Other persons, he said, have been making their contributions to the NDP headquarters and to Nightingale Book Store in Middle Street, Kingstown, as well as to the NDP’s account at the Co-operative Bank.

According to Eustace, “Preliminary figures show that we have passed the $26,000.00 mark and we are still awaiting some undisclosed sums from persons who have made contact.”

The NDP was expected to begin clearing some of the items from the Customs yesterday.