Barbados Offers Support to Jamaica

Prime Minister of Barbados, Hon. Mia Mottley, has announced that her country is providing support to Jamaica as it undertakes recovery efforts, following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa on October 28.

Miss Mottley was one of several CARICOM Heads of Government who visited the island to offer support and show solidarity.

They toured some of the affected areas with Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, on November 17. Several government ministers were also on the tour.

Speaking during a visit to the Whitehouse community in Westmoreland, Prime Minister Mottley highlighted various forms of support being provided.

“Barbados has already sent off its field hospital, and I think it is due to arrive tomorrow and will be set up, I am told, in Savanna-la-Mar [in Westmoreland],” she said.

She noted that this assistance is particularly important given the scale of displacement on the island, “because the displacement in Jamaica is more than three times our population, just to give it scale”.

Prime Minister Mottley further highlighted that Barbados is committed to providing personnel and equipment to support relief and rebuilding efforts.

“We will also send people to help with the bridging of the displacement and then we want to be able to help with some equipment that we may have as well, in particular garbage compactor trucks. We just bought eight, we will give up four of the eight and try to get them to Jamaica,” she said.

Miss Mottley also underscored the importance of timely assistance post hurricane, “because you always must be in a race against time, in terms of trying to bring back normalcy to the people here”.

“We have already sent tarpaulins, generators and immediate food out of Trinidad. Caribbean food that is dehydrated, that people may more enjoy than some of the other stuff, and we will continue to do that,” she assured.

Prime Minister Mottley stressed that the most significant support Barbados and CARICOM can offer is helping Jamaica secure the fiscal space necessary for rebuilding.

“The biggest contribution that we can make to Jamaica… is to see how we can work with the international community to give you the elbow room, the fiscal space that you need. Because you can’t rebuild Jamaica without being given that,” she outlined.

Reflecting on Jamaica’s recovery potential, she expressed confidence in the resilience of the Jamaican people.

“We all know that it happened to us during COVID. We recovered from it and I have every confidence that Jamaica will recover from this moment, and that the people in these five parishes (St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Hanover, St. James and Trelawny), in particular, will have an opportunity to build back stronger and better,” Miss Mottley said.