THE National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO) on Tuesday received a much-needed helping hand from a well-renowned airline giant to aid in their task to help rebuild Dominica.
In a donation ceremony held at NEMO’s headquarters in Bisee, representatives from British Airways, through the St. Lucia Tourism Authority, handed over a shipment to the organisation so that it could be sent to Dominica that was almost wiped out by the Category 5 super-storm Maria last month.
Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Tourism, Dominic Fedee; Director of NEMO, Velda Joseph; and representatives from the British Airways team were present at the ceremony.
Items donated were child-focused: toys, bedding, children’s notebooks, stationery, baby food/snacks, diapers and baby toiletries.
A grateful Joseph received the donation and expressed her happiness over BA’s efforts towards mobilising some of the much-needed resources to the people of Dominica.
Joseph said: “I am sure that it will reach those who are very much in need, and I’m sure it will make a difference in saving somebody’s life. I am particularly pleased that you focused on children.
“Sometimes we are keen on repairing the physical and we do not really concentrate on the psychological impacts of such hazards. We note that children can be traumatised by such events and so any little thing that you can do to bring back a certain level of happiness and normalcy to their lives is very much appreciated.”
Joseph also expressed gratitude to generous St. Lucians who helped their regional neighbours at a time when they needed it most.
The efforts made by St. Lucians, she said, have kept the organisation extremely busy.
“I’m really thankful to the people in St. Lucia, and outside of St. Lucia, who have contributed to that effort,” she said. “We have sent, to date, 23 containers to Dominica, all of them containing food supplies, building materials and other non-food items as per the priority list coming out of Dominica.
“We’re very happy that this kind of response was received from our people. We also want to encourage persons to continue contributing because it’s going to be a very long road to recovery. We know the extensive damage and so we expect that for some time, our brothers and sisters in Dominica would still require our assistance and support.”
Following the natural disaster, it is reported that nearly 100% of Dominica’s population was impacted, Joseph said. This, she said, caused significant trauma, mentally and physically.
She said: “We in St. Lucia understand it. We have been impacted several times: the most recent of them being Tomas in 2010, and we had the Christmas eave trough in 2013. So we know the type of pain and suffering that can be associated with such impacts, and we really want to empathise with our brothers and sisters in Dominica. We also want to pledge our continued assistance and support to the recovery efforts there.”
Joseph also expressed her gratitude to companies which have offered to transport all containers to Dominica free of freight charges, as well as to the St. Lucia Air and Sea Port Authority for waiving all port fees
Given St. Lucia’s proximity to Dominica, NEMO has and continues to serve as a staging area for the coordination of relief items going into Dominica.
