As the Prime Minister said at the opening of his press conference,
the responsibility for distributing disaster relief supplies has been given
to NEMO. NEMO Minister Melvin Hulse said it’s a tasking they take very
seriously and gave a commitment to all those affected by floods.
Hon. Melvin Hulse, NEMO Minister
“We got flood guys, trust me water deh out there but we are able to
rescue everybody, we are able to assist everybody, and NEMO is still here to
be able to assist with the food and the water and the clothing. I know a lot
of people, poor people are very concerned about their homes. These are not houses,
these are homes with their personal things inside. We will be there when the
waters recede enough for us to go in and look and assess and we will assist.
That is not an idle promise, that is a reality.”
But one set of people who won’t be seeing NEMO are those in the
Albion islands. That comprises the three villages of San Roman, Santa Cruz and
San Antonio that are surrounded by two branches of Hondo River. They’ve
been experiences flooding for two weeks but NEMO Minister Hulse says they are
not part of a disaster response.
Hon. Melvin Hulse,
“I need to bring to the attention that the people in San Roman and
I take this opportunity in the Albion Islands because even though they been
experiencing flood for two weeks, as a threat to human life and to home and
property, they’ve not been experiencing that. They’re experiencing
hardship in the manner because their one hundred percent livelihood is dependent
on cutting cane for a living. The cane fields are flooded so they have no jobs.
So what has been activated last night was the Ministry of Human Development
so they could get social assistance until conditions improve so I needed to
say that because they will be calling on help and NEMO just can’t run
and deliver food and water and clothing to people who are not experiencing natural
disaster but economic hardship.”
Needless to say, there was no school in the Albion villages today
–and just so for a number of other schools across the country that are
affected by flood waters. But most schools are open – however Education
Minister Patrick Faber today warned parents and teachers that they should be
aware of the local situation before they make a decision to go to school.
Hon. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education
“While we have made these pronouncements on cancellation of classes
or areas where classes will happen, that our first priority is always safety
and so where parents or teachers feel that the lives of students or teachers
are endangered in terms of getting to and from school in those areas where school
is on, we ask you to use your own judgement because we wouldn’t wish to
take responsibility for that so once you feel your life is in danger and your
child’s life is in danger by going to school, please take the necessary
precautions.”
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