High praise went to Guyana’s private sector on Tuesday as President Irfaan Ali and Prime Minister, Brigadier (ret’), Mark Phillips, ventured to the Muneshwers wharf to inspect the third shipment of relief supplies for St. Vincent and Barbados; both countries are dealing with the aftermath of the La Soufriere volcano eruption.
This shipment of some 250 tonnes of supplies was packed into the ‘Lady Fazeela’ vessel and will depart Guyana’s waters on Tuesday to head to Barbados then St. Vincent – a trip estimated to take five days.
“This tells a story of how [our] local private sector [has] a strong commitment to [their] social responsibility. I think, that as a nation, as a government, we ought to be very, very proud,” President Ali said in his remarks.
A portion of the supplies from this shipment will go to Barbados, the Head of State explained, as the plume of volcanic ash from the eruption disrupted the country’s water supply, leading to a shortage.
“Barbados is also tremendously affected; [the] airport was closed completely for a prolonged period; the water resources tremendously stressed to the extent that they do have water shortages, so on this shipment, we will be sending water, and water tanks, also to help Barbados in their recovery efforts,” the Head-of-State said.
President Ali expressed hope that the same level of solidarity can be maintained even when sister nations are not battling disasters.
