Dominica needs heavy equipment
(Trinidad Guardian) Dominica is in urgent need of heavy equipment to clear “thousands of tonnes of debris,” roadways and landslips that continue to hamper relief efforts.
That’s the word from Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt who told the media yesterday that “progress is being made one day at a time,” but he said it will be a “long journey back.”
Despite the devastation of the hurricane, he said, the government had met its commitment to pay salaries for the month of September, “it was an extraordinary effort and I also met with the Minister of Finance to ensure that we meet legal obligations on loans.”
He said he intends to meet with creditors “on where we are and how we treat with those matters going forward.” The government, he said, had been in discussions with the World Bank “a major partner and we have received US$65 million for reconstruction so far,” he is hoping that figure will increase to US$100 m or more and plans to hold discussions with World Bank officials next week.
Skerritt said while some roads had been cleared “there are lots of landslides and thousands of tonnes of debris to clear.”
The challenge facing the government, he said, is the insufficiency of heavy equipment, but he said: “the government has been in negotiations with operators from the region and we are hoping that by next week we will have a massive fleet of heavy equipment to assist with the cleanup.”
Local organisations which have been providing relief in Dominica admit that there has been a challenge getting supplies to some communities.
ITNAC: We are in it for the long haul
Avonelle Hector from the group Is There Not a Cause (ITNAC) told the T&T Guardian “a number of roads are still blocked and impassable.”
The group, she said, had been sending constant supplies to the island “via the Coast Guard, by air, we are sending on almost every available vessel leaving Trinidad and Tobago.”
In addition to supplies, she said, the group had sent in medical teams and “we also have trauma people going in.”