BERRY Project Launched in St Vincent – Beryl Emergency Resilient Recovery Project
The Beryl Emergency Resilient Recovery (BERRY) Project officially launched in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Monday 21st July, 2025.
The project is in response to Hurricane Beryl which impacted this country on July 1st, 2024, it was approved on October 11th 2024 and came into effect on November 19th, 2024.
Speaking at the launch held at the NIS conference room in Kingstown, Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Information Technology – Camillo Gonsalves gave an update on the restoration efforts stating;
“One third of our GDP, 20 percent of our population and one year later we have restored housing to over four thousand (4,000) affected people. We have reduced the number of people in those touristic accommodations from over one thousand (1,000) to just a couple hundred.”
Gonsalves added that amenities such as electricity and water have almost been completely restored throughout the entirety St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
World Bank representative and Task Team Leader for the Volcanic Eruption Emergency Project (VEEP) and the BERRY project, Jared Mercadante, reflected on his visits, noting that,
“in less than a year, the reestablishment of critical services that were affected at such a scale has taken fraction and is clearly visible.”
Mercadante added that “the World Bank and the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines have been working hand in hand, together, throughout this process and I think this was highlighted in the ability of the project to quickly reimburse, identify retroactive finances and initiate the recovery process”.
He also shared that he is inspired by the hard work, resilience and spirit of respair of the Vincentian people.
Featured Speaker, Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Ralph Gonsalves reiterated that “life is back to normal is St. Vincent and the Grenadines” and further stated “There are pockets here and there but by and large, we are back to normalcy.”
The BERRY Project is funded through an International Development Association with a credit of US $63M, with the objective of providing short term income and restoring economic activity while rebuilding critical infrastructure impacted by hurricane Beryl.
The Project is slated to run for seven years.
