The government of Taiwan, through its local embassy has donated just over 52 thousand US dollars to St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) to purchase new volcano monitoring equipment.

Ambassador Peter Sha-Li Lan, on behalf of the government of the Republic of China handed over a cheque in the sum of US $52,259.90 to permanent secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Hudson Nedd at a ceremony at the Beachcombers Hotel on Thursday, June 23,a release from the embassy states.

In his remarks, Ambassador Lan said Taiwan was with SVG all the way after the COVID-19 pandemic and the volcanic eruption of La Soufrière. The purchase of this sophisticated monitoring equipment was part of the efforts under the bilateral “Pilot Project for the Implementation of Emergency Management System to Reduce Medical Emergencies in St Vincent and Grenadines”, which was jointly implemented by the Technical Mission of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO). The ambassador also expressed appreciation to other Taiwanese partners, including the Ministry of Foreign Affair (MOFA); Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW); Taiwan International Health Action (TaiwanIHA); International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF); National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE-NARLabs); and National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR), for their support to the project, and reiterated that the Embassy of Taiwan will continue working closely with the government of SVG in its national development and economic recovery after the the COVID-19 pandemic and the volcanic eruption.

Permanent secretary, Nedd expressed appreciation to the government of Taiwan for funding the purchase of the new monitoring equipment which is necessary for tracking activities of La Soufrière. He said at this time when resources around the world are scarce, he is grateful that the Republic of China (Taiwan) kept working with SVG in terms of cooperation projects and support to the specific needs of the country.

The handover ceremony was held after the virtual workshop, “Disaster Prevention and Emergency Management in Taiwan” between Taipei and Kingstown, under the above-mentioned project. Attendees included permanent secretary, Knights; Dr. Frank Fuh-Yuan Shih and Dr. Chien-Hao Lin, of the Department of Emergency Medicine of National Taiwan University Hospital; Chief of the Taiwanese Technical Mission, Jerry Liao; Director of NEMO, Michelle Forbes; Director of the Health Security Unit, Donna Bascombe; Deputy Commander of the SVG Coast Guard, Lt. Deon Henry; Manager of the SVG Meteorological Services, Billy Jeffers; Teresa Andrew representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, as well as their colleagues from respective agencies.