Deputy Prime Minister of St Vincent & the Grenadines, Montgomery Daniel, says the agriculture sector is now non-existent on the North-Eastern side of the country.
La Soufriere volcano erupted explosively on Friday 9th April 2021, at 8.41 am.
Daniel visited the area last Sunday, reporting to Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves that the devastation reminded him of when Hurricane Thomas grazed the island years ago.
“The primary forest area close to the La Soufrière volcano is all gone,” he said. “The farms are basically gone. The tree crops have been destroyed. It is only the stems that are standing in some cases. Breadfruit, coconuts, mangoes, soursop, all of those tree crops are basically gone. Things such as plantains and bananas, all of those are gone.”
He added: “With the root crops, the ashfall in some areas would have been so deep that all of the vegetation would have been covered. Whether it is arrowroot, yams, dasheen, ginger, you name it, all have been lost and not a single blade of grass can be seen on these farms”.
There is not going to be very much food available from that area for quite a long time, Daniel said.
