Government slow on hurricane relief provision – Opposition leader

Leader of the Opposition, Dr Godwin Friday, has called for pressure to be put on the government so it would hasten the pace of post Hurricane Beryl relief and recovery.

Speaking on the New Democratic Party’s New Times programme yesterday, September 9, 2024, Friday accused the government of dragging it’s feet on these matters.

One area of concern he pointed out is that the Bequia Anglican Primary School is yet to be reopened although it suffered no damage from the hurricane.

Friday said the school was being used as a shelter, and it was only last Friday, September 6, that the occupants were told to leave the building.

“They have made no real arrangements beyond the time that they were spending there,” he said.

“They knew that school was going to start September 2, so why is it that between September 2 and September 9, you still trying to get people out of the school ?”

Friday, who represents the Northern Grenadines in Parliament, also said that the Paget Farm Primary School was damaged by Hurricane Beryl, and repairs there are incomplete.

“That is utterly ridiculous and very, very poor planning on the part of the government.”

He insisted that work should have been ongoing 24/7 to get the communities in the Southern Grenadines back up and functioning.

The NDP Leader said this is not the case, adding that the private sector is helping more than the administration.

Friday recalled that the opposition supported the $136 million Supplementary Estimates passed in Parliament on August 22, 2024, to be used to provide immediate relief for persons who were impacted by Hurricane Beryl.

Friday claimed that to date “not a cent yet has been paid out to people in income support.”

“After two and a half months, we can’t come to no other conclusion, but that they are dragging their feet on it,” the Opposition leader said, adding that the sense of urgency which is needed to get the communities back up, is sadly lacking.