T&T sending relief supplies to St Lucia

Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar on Thursday instructed the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) to put together foodstuff and emergency supplies to be sent to St Lucia, which was badly affected by the inclement weather on Christmas Eve.

Persad-Bissessar is chair of Caricom, and is also lead Prime Minister on security in the region.

A media release from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) said necessary items have been placed in one of its five "pre-positioned and pre-packed 40 feet containers" that the ODPM keeps in its National Warehouse.

"With the assistance of the Supermarkets Association, water manufacturers and other key suppliers of emergency goods and services, the ODPM is mobilizing the necessary stuff to be sent to St Lucia in the shortest possible time," the OPM release stated.

It added that the CEO of ODPM, Dr. Stephen Ramroop, has contacted the Deputy Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Philip J Pierre, who provided a list of items that are urgently required by the Government and People of Saint Lucia.

The utems include:

• Canned Goods
• Biscuits
• Infant Formula
• Water
• Mattresses
• Blankets
• Hygiene Kits
• Disaster Kits
• First Aid Kits

"The Government, through the ODPM, has initiated this process and has used one of its five pre-positioned and pre-packed containers to send immediately as well as to source another 40 feet container to send 150 mattresses," the release said, adding that it expects to ship the container to Saint Lucia on Thursday afternoon.

It said other islands that have suffered from the bad weather over the holidays have not made any requests for assistance. On Christmas Day the Prime Minister stated that she is ready to assist St Vincent.

Read that story:

T&T PM ready to assist St Vincent

ALSO READ THE NEWSDAY STORY BY ANDRE BAGOO:

STORM strength torrential rainfall associated with a trough system over the Windward Islands on Christmas Eve wrecked havoc and resulted in at least 13 deaths — eight in St Vincent and five in neighbouring St Lucia — as landslides and flooding crippled essential infrastructure in those countries.