Office of The Premier of Montserrat
Friday, September 22, 2017
Fellow Citizens and residents and friends of Montserrat.
We want to give thanks and praise to God Almighty, for protecting us from the worst of Hurricane Maria this week. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Government and People of Dominica as well as the other Islands that were severely hit and are struggling day by day.
Montserrat has been fortunate. However, we must not ignore the damages that our Island has sustained from the passage of MARIA. From what I have seen and the information gathered so far in assessing our current situation, we realize that many of our crops and trees have been damaged or totally uprooted. Some have partially or totally lost roofs and side walls to their homes and businesses. There have been minor damages that resulted in leaks to the Hospital building. However, full services at the hospital have been restored. Some of our Government Offices in Brades, have lost sections of their roofs, and large sections of the outer prefab walls were ripped out.
The Public Works Department is currently doing an Island wide assessment of damages to the roads, bridges, private homes, businesses and Government buildings. Special attention is being given to houses in Look Out and Davy Hill or where temporary structures were built. CEDERA has already been contacted, in order to secure their expertise and support going forward.
Sadly, the entire Island has been without electricity since Tuesday evening. However, Montserrat Utilities has reported the following:
• Electricity has already been restored from the Carr’s Bay main road all the way south to most of the woodlands area. In the upcoming days MUL will be working tirelessly to restore power throughout the entire island.
• Generators have been deployed to the main water reservoirs, to ensure that the tanks are refilled and that the water supply is not interrupted.
• Roads continue to be cleared, starting with the main roads and working gradually into villages.
In order to allow the clearing of the roads and the repairing of power and communication lines to be carried out in a timely manner, it would be in the interest of us all, and especially our motorists that we follow the instructions given by the DMCA and the Police.
Air Access to and from Montserrat, has already resumed. The ferry is safely secured in Antigua and will recommence its operations as soon as the sea has calmed and it is safe to do so.
Telecommunication services by both Flow and Digicel are gradually being restored.
While we work hard to put things back to normalcy, we must also consider that the hurricane season is not over and we may, God forbid, have to prepare for another storm before the season ends. We must also do our best, to do whatever we can to assist the other territories who have suffered far more severely than we have.
In conclusion, I would like to first thank the public for heeding the warnings and instructions given over the past days. Special thanks to those who took friends and relatives into their homes. I must also recognize the hard work of the staff and volunteers of the DMCA, the Police, Fire & Rescue workers, Red Cross volunteers and First Aiders. Thanks are also in order for our doctors, nurses and health staff, shelter managers, other volunteers and public servants, many of whom worked beyond the call of duty, some around the clock to ensure that all preparations were in place. Special thanks to all essential services workers, especially the staff at MUL, Flow and Digicel, who now have the task of working to restore services to the Island. We must also show appreciation to the private sector for their efforts in supporting in one way or the other to make services continue to be available to our people.
Thanks to our families, friends and well-wishers, here and abroad who have prayed for our protection. May we continue to work even harder and in unity to restore our beloved Montserrat.
Fellow Citizens, Residents and friends of Montserrat, May God bless us all.
