Taiwan’s Ambassador to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Weber Shih, on Tuesday presented a cheque for US$200,000 to Prime Minister Dr. Ralph E. Gonsalves as a donation for emergency relief and humanitarian aid in the aftermath of the devastating floods on the Christmas Eve.
The cheque was presented on behalf of the Government of Taiwan.
Nine persons died in the disaster while four are still missing. There was also extensive damage to public infrastructure and housing.
The envoy expressed the deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who lost lives in the disaster, and wished Vincentian friends who have been affected by this horrific natural disaster a speedy recovery.
Gonsalves thanked SVG’s allies for assistance to cope with the disaster, adding that his government is especially grateful for the generosity and solidarity promptly extended by Taiwan.
Gonsalves also expressed his gratitude to Taiwan for the completion of the passenger terminal building of the Argyle International Airport Project, which was officially handed over to the SVG Government on Monday.
The Prime Minister and Ambassador emphasized that the Argyle International Airport is the biggest project in SVG history, which was started from scratch, and the on-time completion of the terminal building had once again fully exhibited the effectiveness of cooperation between the two countries.
Shih said that he was very proud to be part of the terminal building project from the beginning to its completion, and believed that with concerted efforts, the international airport will be up and running soon and conducive to the nation’s development.
This check for US$200.000 by the Government of Taiwan for disaster help to the suffering People of SVG is an insult.It reminds me of the US$200.00 Jimmy Carter give Bishop as Foreign aide.. after the Grenadian revolution.The government of Taiwan is operating a major secretive Diamond mining operation in a Volcanic Dry River Bed at Rabbacca-SVG.There are no direct Government supervision at that site.It’s a Taiwanese only (exploitation) operation ! After all these years, have successive Taiwanese Governments found the Rabbacca Diamond mining operations in SVG unprofitable ? The time have come for SVG to kiss Taiwan goodbye, and say hello to the real Republic of China in 2014 !
Your claim about mining diamond at Dry River has sparked my interest. It is not too far-fetched – after all, there are lot of volcanic activity going and that is what helps to produce precious gems, etc. But, what is your proof of this? I too question the $200K in light of the sustained damages. I suppose it is better than nothing, but really? That’s the best they can do?
You are so ungrateful after all they have given us ,and still giving . Why not say goodbye to England,America and Canada ? How much have they given us ,considering how hard our men and women are working in their economy,and how much they have taken away from our forepaents We are the ones who have suffered in the storm and we are grateful to Taiwan I,m sure there will be more coming.Its people with attitude like you are giving our hard working Government a bad name . The Scripture must be fulfill and if you spend some time to read your Bible rather than writing negativity we would have a better world to live in Don’t blame God for the storm Man sins will cause God to flood this earth again like in the days of Noah be sure YOU are ready to meet the Lord
Taiwan gave the same amount $200k to Dominica and Saint Lucia. They are consistant in what they contribute to our little nation.
By far the biggest contributors over the years has been the UK and the EU, the latter having funded most of our highway repairs and new roads and schools. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars.
Those that contribute the least is Cuba, Venezuela and ALBA, its just a drop in the ocean, a great pretence with no real body of help unless we pay for it.
Percy Clouden, you talk I am sure with good intent but it is misleading crap. Also we may already be the recipiants of flooding, brought on by the Marxist pretenders in SVG.