Saint Lucia, in the first instance, will be welcoming a minimum of three hundred Vincentians, following an explosive eruption at the La Soufriere volcano in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Prime Minister Allen Chastanet made the announcement during a press briefing on Friday.
Earlier today, the UWI Seismic Research Centre reported that as of 8:41 am on April 9, an explosive eruption began at the volcano. The eruption came hours after a mass evacuation exercise commenced. The Centre also reported that ash has begun to fall on the flanks of the volcano and it is currently affecting surrounding communities.
“Saint Lucia has been working assiduously to facilitate the accommodation of many Vincentians to come here to Saint Lucia,” Chastanet said at Friday’s briefing. “…We do have hotels that remain unaccommodated at this particular point and we’re using those as a backup. We are hoping that we can work with the cruise lines to allow the ship to remain in port for a couple of days as we process Vincentians coming into Saint Lucia.”
This process, Chastanet said, will be handled by the Ministry of Health, Immigration Department and NEMO.
“The Ministry of Health will be doing covid tests on all persons who are arriving, including those persons who have received their first vaccination. Once those persons have gotten a negative test, then we’re going to be looking to accommodate them within Saint Lucia,” he said.
The government of Saint Lucia also intends to create a ‘room bank.’ The prime minister revealed that he has received many calls from Saint Lucians who are willing to take Vincentians into their homes. “So we are setting up a structure that will be available on Monday, April 12 for any Saint Lucian family that wants to accommodate a Vincentian family.” NEMO, the hotels association and Command Centre will determine the criteria that a Saint Lucian family needs to meet to qualify.
Said Chastanet: “We are going to arrange to bring over at least three hundred Vincentians in the first round and this gives us the ability to go through the protocols that we’ve put in place, to both make sure that we are acting safely…as well as to be able to provide the greatest amount of support for the Vincentians coming over.”
He urged Saint Lucian families, especially those north of Dennery and Soufriere, to consider taking part in this initiative. “Once we’ve understood how many people are willing to do this; how many people can be accommodated, then we would continue to work with the government of St. Vincent in accommodating as many Vincentians as possible.” A “stimulus programme” is in the works to assist households who accommodate evacuees.
The prime minister explained that evacuees will not be housed at schools since the academic term is set to begin on April 19. Keeping them at schools, he said, would be a ‘great disruption’ as students head back to the physical classroom. Additionally, schools would only be available for a short period of time, as they lack the necessary services to accommodate people for long periods. “…We have to prepare for at least 3 months of accommodation in the first instance. It may end up being shorter and it may end up being longer but I think that if we start with a goal of three months that that would be a safe estimation initially,” the prime minister said. Provisions will be made for Vincentian students to attend school in Saint Lucia.
Vincentians will not be required to take covid vaccine
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Glensford Joseph explained that there will be ‘medical stations’ at the shelters (hotels) to ensure that the health and safety needs of evacuees are addressed. There, evacuees would have access to pharmaceuticals and medical supplies.
As far as the vaccine is concerned, Dr. Joseph said: “We do know that in Saint Lucia we have the policy of the covid-19 vaccine being done on a voluntary basis. What we do is really to inform, educate and empower persons to make that evidence-based decision as it relates to the acceptance of the covid-19 vaccine…We are going to continue as it relates to our evacuees to educate and inform so that they too can make that informed decision and be vaccinated.”
NEMO Director, Dorine Gustave, indicated that the possible impact on Saint Lucia would be ash fall and resulting air quality issues. She urged persons in the south to keep a close eye on relatives who suffer with respiratory illnesses. Plans are in place to evacuate persons from the south who may be impacted by the ash fall, she said.
Saint Lucia will also be sending 500 beds to St. Vincent and the prime minister encouraged Saint Lucians who wish to donate supplies to contact NEMO.
