After The Passage of Hurricane Joaquin, Bahamas Open for Business Says PM Christie

After The Passage of Hurricane Joaquin, Bahamas Open for Business Says PM Christie
Author

CMC Media

Release Date

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Share

The Bahamas government has declared that the territory is “open for business”, as relief begins arriving to help the islands battered by Hurricane Joaquin.

“It is imperative that we send the message out to the world that The Bahamas is open for business,” Director General of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism Joy Jibrilu has declared.

She made that declaration as Prime Minister Perry Christie, who visited the affected islands over the weekend, assured at a press conference that no effort would be spared in bringing immediate assistance to the people wherever they are.

He said that in addition to Bahamian assets, the British Navy, and United States Coast Guard (USCG) were assisting in rescue efforts, assessments and repairs, and providing humanitarian aid to severely affected islands. Christie said government would also strengthen the capacity of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to carry out the recovery efforts, and special teams of people with engineering, social service and healthcare skills will be deployed to help with relief and restoration activities.

Hurricane Joaquin hit the Bahamas as a Category 4 hurricane, causing severe flooding and damage to houses, and disruption to electricity and water supply. There were no deaths, but one man on Ragged Island has been reported missing.

Leader of the Opposition Dr. Hubert Minnis has called on churches and schools to organize donations and aid for those affected.

He said this was no time for politics and urged all residents to come together for the country’s sake.

“There’s no red and there’s no yellow,” he said at the press conference, referring to his Free National Movement‘s red and the yellow of the ruling Progressive Liberal Party. “When lives are at stake we must all work together to ensure the safety…of those particular lives.”

NEMA said initial needs are: food, water, emergency shelter, aerial reconnaissance, damage assessment support in the south and central islands of the Bahamas, electricity restoration and water and sewerage restoration.

Some of that help has already arrived or is on the way.

Through the support of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency’s sub-regional focal point in Jamaica and the Government of the United Kingdom, the vessel Lyme Bay left Kingston over the weekend with 14,000 pounds of cereal products; 85 cases of pasta; 1,260 cans of canned meat and vegetables; 3,000 bottles of water; 200 cases of tarpaulins and 102 blankets for Acklins Island, Crooked Island and Mayaguana.

And CDEMA said it has made arrangements for three Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment Teams to be deployed to Acklins Island, Crooked Island and Long Island.



Latest Stories