The government will “interrogate” further the number of people registered from St. Vincent for food packages, mattresses and other supplies after the passage of Hurricane Beryl on July 1.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said that the exercise would not be to strip names from the list but to determine whether recipients were affected by the category 4 cyclone.
Speaking on NBC Radio on Wednesday, Gonsalves said 3,642 households have registered with the National Private Home Placement Registry in St. Vincent as of Aug. 2.
Asked whether they were mainly from Canouan and Union Island, two of the Southern Grenadines islands devastated by the hurricane, the prime minister said, “No”.
Gonsalves continued:
“… a lot from Union. But hear me this, I’ll give you the numbers. When you register, you get a good box of food, … it lasts you two weeks, between $400 and $500,” he said, adding that people call these the “government box”.
“There’s a smaller box from WFP — World Food Program. People would get both,” the prime minister said.
“I tell the people in the ministry not, emphasize not, to skimp on food. I say it’s better for people to have more food than less food.
“But there are persons who are registered … from St. Vincent, who are not necessarily affected by Beryl. So, you get your food boxes. You get mattresses. You get bottled water,” the prime minister said.
He said 2,720 households from St. Vincent are registered on St. Vincent.
At the same time, 618 households from Union Island are registered in St. Vincent, Gonsalves said, adding that each of those households is made up of three people.
Meanwhile, 122 households from Bequia, 147 from Canouan, and 30 from Mayreau are registered in St. Vincent.
“When I said at my consultation in Union Island, about the number of persons who are in households from Union Island, some people said no. But I have up the data. And we have the data, the rapid assessment that we do in Union Island too,” Gonsalves said.
He continued:
“Clearly, the ministry — and last week Saturday, it was decided that these numbers on St. Vincent from St. Vincent, we must interrogate them further, not to stop giving people food if they want it, but to ensure whether they were affected directly or indirectly from Beryl.”
Gonsalves said a lot of people in St. Vincent were affected by the hurricane.
“A lot of houses, you know,” he said, adding that, for instance, the storm destroyed 28 houses in a squatters’ settlement in Glen.
“… a lot of them in Pole Yard,” he said, referring to a similar community in Arnos Vale.
“You have over 70 houses in Pole Yard. You have an informal human settlement in Diamond and other places across St. Vincent,” the prime minister said.
He said that as of July 31, there were 1,331 people in emergency 72 shelters in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
There are a lots of mainland people that are registering for assistance and were not affected by Beryl. PM do you know why? They are constantly being affected by the prolong tornado that has been seriously wreaking havoc on the mainland. Its is called POVERTY!
Whenever you hear the PM speak, I always end up thinking it is more marxism and more communism. For all the suffering going on in the country you would expect some empathy but no. When he ready he come out speaking in plain Vincy vernacular so he could mamaguy the people some more, all the while still being as he has been from day one showing off his color and expecting the people to fall for it.
Don’t forget that we are in EXTREME POVERTY . do anyone expects better?
Vincy is a disaster contending with hurricane Ralph dor yrs now. Every household deserves a care package once per month, because of the level of poverty they’re experiencing living under a permanent hurricane.
More stuff needed indeed,everyone were affected by the hurricane one way or the other…