Machel in Hurricane ravaged Dominica

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne on the weekend led a delegation, which included TT soca star Machel Montano, to Hurricane ravaged Dominica.

Browne, who also oversaw recovery missions on his own island of Barbuda, which was severely hit by Hurricane Irma, in a recent interview said the devastation in the neighbouring Dominica was ‘widespread.’

Antigua and Barbuda’s military personnel were assisting their counterparts in Dominica.

“I had the opportunity to give him [Roosevelt Skerrit], every assurance that the government and the people of Antigua and Barbuda will be standing with the commonwealth of Dominica,” Browne said in the recent interview.

“The scale crisis in Dominica is far greater than Barbuda. In Barbuda, we had to deal with 1,800 people in Dominica it is over 80,000”, he added.

Browne and his delegation were taken on a tour of affected areas and he was expected to meet with Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt later yesterday.

Other islands have pledged support including the deployment of medical support and defence force staff as well as relief supplies to the island, including Trinidad and Tobago.

Skerritt in several posts on his Facebook page said the recovery process was ongoing ‘slowly but surely,’ and that roads around the island were being cleared.

“Let's keep this energy going,” he said. He also revealed that banks on the island were open and

Money gram and Western Union should be up and running on Monday.

Montano, who is enroute to Miami for Carnival celebrations there, has teamed up with several local soca stars, including Bunji Garlin and Fay Ann Lyons to donate all proceeds of the Carnival Kingdom 'Buss Head Tour Edition' event to islands affected by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

"We will make a public announcement of the charities we have chosen to work with and further donations will be accepted for those who have the means to lend a helping hand," Montano said in a post on his Instagram account.