The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Johnson welcomes extra £25m for Irma relief efforts
Foreign secretary surveys devastation on visit to Anguilla
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has welcomed the commitment of an extra £25 million to help British Overseas Territories affected by Hurricane Irma, branding it “great news”.
Undertaking a visit of Anguilla, where he saw first hand the damage caused to the island, when pressed for his impressions of what he had seen, Mr Johnson said: “You can’t be but affected by the scale of devastation the people of Anguilla have endured.”
Before heading to the British Virgin Islands, Mr Johnson visited Anguilla’s Princess Alexandra Hospital, which suffered 60% damage as Hurricane Irma unleashed devastation, something he said was “pitiful” to witness.
Welcoming the announcement of an extra cash injection to immediately help British Overseas Territories battered by the storm, he said: “It is great news another £25m has been announced, that will help us get through this emergency period.
“But there are things we are going to have to do in the long term to make this island more economically self-sufficient and even more resilient, and we will certainly be thinking about that.”
While at the hospital, Mr Johnson could be heard saying “wow this is going to be a big, big job”, and on seeing water-damaged rooms – many with missing roofs, said “we need to put the pedal to the metal” to get things running fully again.
The British public also helped raise £1.3m for the victims of Hurricane Irma in the space of a week.
More than £650,000 has been donated to a British Red Cross Appeal, with the UK Government matching every pound.
The Government has pledged to match donations made by the public until the private donation total reaches £3 million.
The British Red Cross said it is providing drinking water, family hygiene kits, blankets, tarpaulin, and other emergency supplies across the islands affected.
It has also sent six experts to help with the emergency response.