Regional and international support encouraging says prime minister
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Contact: Shannon Lebourne
Wednesday 17 November 2010 – Saint Lucia`s Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Honourable Stephenson King, in an exclusive interview with the GIS, expressed his gratitude for the support the country has received following the passage of Hurricane Tomas.
“The level of support that has come in so far is really encouraging. A lot of commitments have been made so far, and based on my resource mobilisation team in the Ministry of Finance the level of assistance that we have received so far stands at almost one hundred and sixty million Eastern Caribbean dollars.”
Moreover, the prime minister explained that the government of Saint Lucia had also secured the services of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC) and the OECS Authority to conduct a macro-economic damage assessment of the country.
“That macro-economic damage assessment will be seen as a more credible assessment because we give figures but there is no real science in the figures in that they are generally based on experience. The team from UNECLAC and the OECS Authority will use their instruments for assessments and then give credible information that will enable us as a government, to present the ensuing information to the international community for consideration.”
Prime Minister King stated that Saint Lucia will be convening a donor’s conference upon completion of the macro-economic assessment survey.
Meanwhile, Saint Lucia continues to receive pledges of support from the international community. On Wednesday November 17, the European Union (EU) announced over $US 270,000 to help Saint Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines to restore health and sanitary conditions following devastation caused by Hurricane Tomas.
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