Caricom countries helping each other recover from Beryl

GENERAL Secretary of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Carla Barnett says Caricom members are providing urgent support to one another to assist in recovering and rebuilding after the passage of Hurricane Beryl.

In a statement on July 4, Barnett said several agencies worked together to address the needs of the affected, including the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and national disaster management agencies, the Regional Security System, and the regional private sector, including the Caricom Private Sector Organization.

“We are marking this 51st anniversary…as several member states are assessing the extraordinary damage and destruction caused by Hurricane Beryl, the earliest recorded category five hurricane in the Caribbean, and one of the most dangerous weather systems the region has ever experienced,” Barnett said.

Caricom postponed its 47th Conference of Heads of Government regular meeting, scheduled for July 3 to 5 in Grenada.

The meeting was intended to coincide with the 51st anniversary of the signing of the original Treaty of Chaguaramas, establishing Caricom on June 4, 1973.

Caricom highlighted damage to St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Union Islands, Canouan, Mayreau, and the Tobago Cays on June 1, along with Grenada territories Carriacou and Petit Martinique, where “housing and other infrastructure (were) nearly 100 per cent destroyed,” Barnett said.

In Barbados, the fisheries sector has been devastated and the livelihoods of fisherfolk will have to be rebuilt from scratch, she said.

At the same time, initial reports from Jamaica indicate infrastructural damage, blocked roads, flooding, and losses in the agriculture and fishing sectors.

“We await word on the impact on the Cayman Islands and possibly on Belize as Beryl crosses the Yucatan Peninsula.

“This is a frightening start to what is forecast to be a very active hurricane season. The devastation to our region has brought sadness to everyone, and I extend deepest sympathies to those who lost family members, livelihoods and property.

“The severity of this hurricane underlines the urgency of our ongoing calls to the international community to take action in keeping with previously agreed climate change commitments.

“The excessive heat experienced earlier this year has warmed the sea, threatening vulnerable marine ecosystems and fuelling storms such as Beryl and others that are likely to come during this hurricane season, which is still in its early stages.

“The urgency of keeping 1.5° within reach is clear.”

She said Caribbean states, “which do not cause climate change, continue to bear the disproportionate burden of its consequences,” adding that “socioeconomic destruction caused by the extreme intensity of the weather systems that are strengthened by climate change, results in devastating consequences on the lives and livelihoods of our people.”

Barnett noted that Caricom members have been experiencing economic recovery over the past few years following the adverse effects of the covid19 pandemic.

She said even as that recovery is being “destroyed by the hurricane,” Caricom is focused on “restoring normalcy to our people and communities, and building resilience as we face the rest of this hurricane season, and beyond.”