The government will give an honorarium to shelter managers for their work since the explosive eruption of La Soufriere on April 9.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said that “overwhelmingly, they have done a fantastic job”.
He told a press conference on Tuesday, that, naturally, some the shelter managers
“are getting a little fatigued”.
“I gave the approval yesterday at the National Emergency Management Council meeting for the Ministry of Education, which manages the shelters, to work with the Office of the Chief Personnel Officer and the Cabinet Secretary to submit to me payments of honoraria,” Gonsalves said.
“You might have a teacher who is doing something; they didn’t go into this for any money. They go into this out of the goodness of their heart, working long hours.
“There are some volunteers, too, and some of them are getting tired, as you can understand,” Gonsalves said.
He added that such fatigue is not unlike what people in similar situations have experienced, historically.
“[It] happens all over the world. Happens when you are in shelters and disasters,” Gonsalves said.
“But, we have to provide some — to show our appreciation and whatever the honoraria suggested, I will okay a stipend of appreciation, above and beyond what you get in your salary, and that will not be taxed, naturally.
“It’s a concept which we have applied on more than one occasion when people go beyond the call of duty. I know they are not doing it for that but we have to show our appreciation,” the prime minister said.