Dominica Foreign Minister praises humanity of Caribbean people, strength of CARICOM institutions

Dominica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Francine Baron, last week expressed gratitude to the people of the Caribbean for their support following the passage of Hurricane Maria through Dominica last September.

The Minister was at the time addressing an appreciation ceremony that the Dominica Association of Barbados held earlier this month in Barbados to express thanks to those who rendered assistance to the Nature Isle after the devastating Hurricane.

According to Barbados Today, the Minister said that the hurricanes that ravaged the Region last year and in particular Hurricane Maria brought out the best of CARICOM, “not just the humanity of our Caribbean people, but the strength and usefulness of our institutions, such as the RSS and CDEMA [the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency]”.

Minister Baron pointed out that in the immediate wake of the disaster, the first set of soldiers to arrive on the island under the banner of the Regional Security System (RSS), was from Barbados. They provided critical support to the Dominica Police Force and were joined later by representatives of forces of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.

“I must also express our sincere appreciation to the Government and people of Barbados for deploying its Coast Guard, personnel of the Barbados Defence Force, its team of artisans and for the provision of relief supplies to Dominica.

“The soldiers assisted with security on the ground for the Caribbean response teams and worked with our police in upholding the curfew; they assisted also with the recapture of escaped prisoners. The artisans did the immediate emergency repairs to the hospital, prison and other key government buildings,” Barbados Today quoted the Minister as saying.

The news entity said that the Minister also praisd other regional and international organisations.