WE ARE ALL LOOKING TO A BETTER FUTURE – 75th UN PRESIDENT
“We are all looking to a better future.” This statement came after His Excellency Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th United Nations (UN) General Assembly, saw, firsthand, the devastation after the explosive eruptions of the La Soufrière volcano.
His Excellency Bozkir said that his visit was primarily “to see this place and to share my regrets and my sorrow on what happened to this beautiful country and wonderful people here.” According to His Excellency, the aftermath of the volcanic eruptions was “more than I thought”. He commended this country’s government for its management of the evacuation exercise, “it’s also good to see that the government is handling the situation with whatever capacity they have.”
His Excellency added, “I am very glad to see that nobody died and it’s also a success of the government to organise smooth evacuation so that nobody has died – lives are more important than anything else, everything can be recovered but while lives cannot.”
“It’s a fight against nature and I am sure that in a very short while all these blocked bridges and mud flowing rivers will come back to life and people evacuated will come back to their homes,” the UN President stated.
His Excellency expressed thanks to Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Montgomery Daniel who led the tour of the red zone. “He’s one of the experts and who has dedicated himself to the welfare of this region.”
Also, His Excellency thanked the UN’s regional coordinator “who immediately organised the United Nations and the world international community to come to the help of this wonderful country and beautiful people and I am sure that this will continue.”
While in the red zone, His Excellency Bozkir took several photographs. “I’ll take these photographs and messages back to New York, to the United Nations, share it with the world family.”
The UN President and delegates visited Canouan and Tobago Cays in the Southern Grenadines. They are “the most beautiful place[s] in the world, if not the most beautiful. I spent a very good time, also had contacts with local people. We even caught a barracuda. I have seen first time in my life, a barracuda.”
His Excellency went on to say that “this country deserves the tourists it saw two years ago, back again. You have a wonderful airport. I think it’s a success story. It’s the biggest investment in this country. I have visited the airport, went through it. It is capable of, in good times, to handle all the tourists coming.” Accordingly, he described the port infrastructure as “very good,” that “tourists need sunshine, resorts, friendly people and friendly country – you have all of it.”
Earlier that day, the President and his delegation met with Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves and other Cabinet members, visited the Logistics Hub at the former E.T. Joshua Airport site, stopped at Rabacca Dry River, a few places onwards, and concluded at Sandy Bay.
The meeting with Prime Minister Gonsalves and the tour took place on Monday, 26th July, 2021.
