SVG receives millions in materials and equipment for post-Beryl recovery

Around 5 million British pounds worth of equipment and materials were received towards the end of last month for use in the on-going post Hurricane Beryl recovery and reconstruction in the Southern Grenadines.

FROM LEFT: Andy Thorne of the Kestrel Group, P.M. Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, and Ian Wace of the Gombolimbo Group (photo by Robertson S Henry)

The ship, Vertom Joy, docked at the Cruise Ship Berth in Kingstown with the building materials and equipment on Saturday morning, December 28, 2024.

Coordinating the collection and delivery of the supplies was Andy Thorne, CEO of Kestrel Shipping; philanthropist Ian Wace of the Gombolimbo Group; and officials of the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

The off-loading of the supplies had to be completed so as to facilitate the arrival of a cruise ship at 5’o’clock the following morning.

“We have a lot of heavy equipment. We have 24 containers. The issue is, again, we are at the cruise ship terminal, so we’re basically working against time … time is against us,” said Marlon Gibson, who oversees Kestrel’s operations in SVG.

“… we can’t have the cargo lingering on the pier for too long,” Gibson explained.

Speaking to the media on board the Vertom Joy, Wace outlined that, “It’s 750 tons worth of equipment of which half of it is in machines and the other half is in building materials. There’s 26 containers, 26 pieces of machinery”.

Wace said “The machinery came from a project we had in Scotland and we decided to donate it to this project down in Union and in Canouan”.

Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves emphasising, said “The reality is we need the equipment, and for the last six months we’ve been working basically without the equipment. This is the equipment to then make a step change in terms of the productivity on the island. So these diggers, dumpers, are crying out to be used, and this is the way that we will be able to build faster and vastly more efficiently than we’ve been able to date”.

Gonsalves explained that hundreds of roofs had already been replaced on homes, “ …a couple of hundred in Canouan, 50 or 60 in Union, but we need this kit and that’s what it’s here for. The building supplies are for another 150 roofs inside these containers, so it’s a lot of stuff”.

The supplies were being shipped to the Grenadines islands on board the Bequia Express.

The Prime Minister expressed deep appreciation for the partnership that resulted in the donation, and emphasised how essential these resources are in aiding recovery efforts following the damage caused by Hurricane Beryl on July 1, 2024, and setting the stage for long-term resilience.