NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (April 26, 2021) – Nevis has shipped two 20-foot containers with much needed water and other relief supplies to St. Vincent as part of an international humanitarian effort in the wake of ongoing volcanic eruptions on the Windward island.
During an interview with the Department of Information on April 26, Mr. Brian Dyer, Director of the Nevis Disaster Management Department (NDMD) said more than $70,000 worth of donated supplies was recently shipped to St. Vincent to assist persons displaced from their homes due to the La Soufrière volcano eruptions.
“The island of Nevis shipped two containers to St. Vincent last week. The containers should be arriving in St. Vincent on Wednesday (April 28).
“We were able to collect several pallets of water, several pallets of cleaning supplies, toiletries, and dry foods.
“We shipped over 1500 cases of water, we had 17 pallets of food, and we had a significant amount of toiletries and hygiene products, so we maximized the two containers,” he said.Mr. Dyer explained that while the NDMD collected in excess of what was able to be shipped, they have asked that persons hold off on donating supplies for the moment until a date is set for another shipment.
He said the NDMD continues to coordinate with funding agencies, donor partners from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and the disaster management fraternity under the CDEMA mechanism to update the needs list for St. Vincent and work out the logistics of shipping relief supplies.
He said all supplies had to be itemized for shipment and the needs list updated to ensure prioritizing of what is required for the persons evacuated from the red zone in St. Vincent.
“The needs list for St. Vincent changes quite frequently. We have meetings every day to discuss the new challenges, shelter operations and the needs, and also the supplies that have been received
“So when we ship anything we have to not only itemize the shipment but also update the needs list so the authorities in St. Vincent can know what is outstanding. So it’s a tedious process but we have to ensure the logistics match the request,” he said.
He commended individuals, organisations and businesses for their overwhelming generosity in donating supplies for the regional brothers and sisters during their time of crisis.
Mr. Dyer said once the logistics for shipping additional relief supplies to St. Vincent have been finalized, an announcement will be made with respect to the NDMD resuming accepting donations.
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