St. Vincent and the Grenadines will receive assistance from Grenada and Dominica to offset the cost of rebuilding following the passage of Hurricane Tomas late last month.{{more}}

On November 9, Prime Ministers Rosevelt Skerrit of Dominica and Tilman Thomas of Grenada visited the state to get an idea of the status of recovery efforts and to render solidarity to fellow colleague Dr. Ralph Gonsalves.

PM Skerrit said his country will be donating building materials to assist with the reconstruction and repairing of houses that were damaged or destroyed during the hurricane.

He said this country had a “huge challenge” with rebuilding and stern leadership was required.

His Grenadian counterpart Tilman Thomas said his country was lending a hand with recovery efforts. His administration through the National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA) organized a two hour mediathon aimed at raising funds to assist St. Lucia and St.Vincent.

It was able to raise EC$200,070 through pledges, commitments by individuals, companies and other institutions.

The government made an initial contribution of EC$175,000, of which EC$100,000 will be given to St. Lucia and EC$75,000 to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Thomas said Grenadians were very sympathetic towards Vincentians, given their experience with Hurricane Ivan in 2004. He said during that period, a lot of the relief supplies had come from St.Vincent and the Grenadines.

He said a relationship with trading ground provisions was established and is still in effect.

Hurricane Tomas struck St.Vincent and the Grenadines on October 30 as a category one hurricane. It left over 1000 people in shelters and damaged many homes.