Hurricane Beryl victims to get direct income support

More help is coming for persons who were adversely affected by the passage of Hurricane Beryl in St Vincent and the Grenadines on July 1, 2024. Apart from losing their homes and other personal belongings, many Vincentians also were negatively affected in other ways by the category 4 hurricane.

In a ministerial statement in Parliament on Thursday, August 22, 2024, Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves spoke about direct income support for affected persons.

On Wednesday August 21, Minister of National Mobilization, Keisal Peters had presented a document in this regard for Cabinet’s approval.

Gonsalves disclosed that about 4,500 persons who have lost their jobs, or earnings from their small businesses are among those to be assisted with income support.

He said this income support will be in the form of direct cash payments, via Bank of SVG debit cards.

As well, the Ministry of Agriculture has a list of farmers and fisherfolk, while the Ministry of Tourism has a list of persons who lost their jobs and need assistance.

“This is a very costly exercise,” Gonsalves stated, indicating that the payments may run over into 2025.

Payments will be made in a similar fashion to those which were made to persons under the volcano emergency (VEEP) project.

In answer to a question in Parliament last Thursday, Minister of Agriculture, Saboto Caesar also spoke about income support to farmers by way of vouchers. Farmers will be receiving vouchers in amounts ranging from $500 to $2000, based on the size of their farms.

The vouchers can be redeemed at the Agricultural Input Warehouse in Kingstown. Additionally, Caesar said his ministry is offering free tractor services to farmers whose holdings were affected by the passage of Hurricane Beryl.

This country’s agricultural sector took a serious beating from the July 1 hurricane. Minister Caesar said a rapid assessment done after the passage of the hurricane shows that 2,911 farmers were negatively impacted. As a result of damage by the hurricane, there is a scarcity of some agricultural produce on the local market. Listing some of these, the minister identified plantains, bananas, avocados, breadfruits and mangoes.