Caribbean Community (CARICOM) CARICOM Secretary-General, His Excellency Edwin W. Carrington, now back from the United Nations Meeting on the Sustainable Development of Small Island States in Mauritius, today (Monday, January 24, 2005) met with the Deputy Secretary-General, Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite and staff to assess the impact on staff and operations of the Secretariat, of the current flood situation in Georgetown and surrounding areas.
Disaster Management
The tremendous loss of life and destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean region on 26 December 2004 have shocked the world at large and shattered the lives of many individuals and communities. We extend our heartfelt sympathies to all those affected by this tragedy, especially those who have lost family and friends.
Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Mr. Edwin W. Carrington will lead a small team from the CARICOM Secretariat to Grenada on Friday, 10 September to assess the damage caused by hurricane Ivan which ravaged the island on Tuesday. While in Grenada, Mr. Carrington and team will speak to Prime Minister, Dr. the Honorable Keith Mitchell and citizens of Grenada with respect to the CARICOM Secretariat's support in the rebuilding of the CARICOM Member State.
Twenty-eight countries will take part in one of the most diverse Caribbean Festival of the Arts ever, which gets underway in Paramaribo, Suriname on Sunday 24 August.
I have learnt with great distress the reports of loss of life of several of your citizens as well as of the extensive damage caused to houses, public buildings and agricultural production in St. Vincent and the Grenadines resulting from the passage of Tropical Storm Lili through your country yesterday.
On behalf of the Community, its Secretariat and on my own behalf, I extend sincerest condolences to the Government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and to the family of the deceased.
The 40th Session of the Caribbean Meteorological Council (CMC) opened at the Sherbourne Centre in Barbados on 7th December, 2000 with delegates and members from the Caribbean Meteorological Organisation (CMO), focussing mainly on arrangements for the implementation of a regional radar project.
The project will see radar systems established in four Caribbean countries - Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Belize.
The Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), are jointly developing a study on the impact of El Nino, a global weather phenomenon, on the Region, according to Barbados' Minister for Agriculture and Urban Development, the Hon. Anthony Wood.
CARICOM Secretary General Mr Edwin Carrington has assured the Member States of the Community devastated by Hurricane Georges that the Region stood ready to assist them in their time of need.
Mr Carrington despatched messages of condolence and support to Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis and Haiti on behalf of the Community and the Secretariat earlier this week shortly after the passage of Hurricane Georges through the Caribbean. He also sent a similar message to the Dominican Republic, a Member State of CARIFORUM of which Mr Carrington is also Secretary-General.
(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) The Government of Guyana through its Civil Defense Commission (CDC) today received a quantity of food and household supplies from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat to assist with the continuing relief efforts in the wake of massive flooding that has left unprecedented damage in segments of the country.