Guyana defense force artisan squad to help in Carriacou & Petite Martinique restoration

50 members of the Guyana Defense Force aesan Squad are now in CaRu and P marnique to assist with the restoration and rebuilding process post hurricane Barrel the squad was welcomed at the Morris Bishop International Airport by prime minister honorable Deacon Mitchell and Commissioner of police Don McKenzie and again at the Happyville Port by prime minister honorable Deacon Mitchell honorable Tevin Andrew parliamentary representative honorable Karen James honorable Andy Williams and honorable Ron redhead honorable Tevin Andrews in greeting the team expressed gratitude on behalf of the people he serve for their presence on the island which he says undoubtedly will boost their Spirits car and P mnik is two Islands part of Grenada and I am the Member of Parliament responsible for those two islands and as you are seeing some parts of it um we are we were hit hard by the category 4 hurricane which destroyed us um so there's a lot of work to do and I'm grateful and heartened to know that you are here to assist us in the recovery and rebuilding efforts so thank you so much prime minister honorable Deacon Mitchell who also holds the portfolio as Minister for National Security says not only will their presence on the island bring hope in the restoration process but a feeling of security who you're now in the theater um this is where Grena in a sense suffered the the the bulk of the the damage and I think from just looking around you probably already have a sense of what uh we are facing um but I think everyone here is is heartened uh is happy that you here we look forward to your support we look forward to your solidarity and we have no doubt that your presence will make a significant difference and an improved one in the lives of the people of p marnik and and Kaku some as you would understand are still deeply traumatized by the event so it isn't just a question of physical rebuilding but it's a question of lifting the spirits of of the people and your presence will go a long way in in doing that so we are grateful uh thank you for coming major Clifton Sam second in charge of the Guyana Defense Force spoke with the gis on the role of the squad in the process major Sam says an assessment of the damage were undertaken by the team of eight persons one week ago the initial reaction was the level of devastation um that was here when we saw um when we saw the the amount of work here and taking into consideration that the hurricane was like about five 5 days before before we got here and we see that um that the place was not um they were not up to normal normal seab backers yet so that was the um that is what took us mostly yes we're very happy to help um the people here they' have been very warm they've been very um welcoming and very grateful this is the vessel that has arrived here today with the materials for us to conduct our work as well as we have an additional 50 troops that has landed in Grenada this morning who will be the main Workforce to come across and do the job that we have that has to be done he says at this point he cannot give a timeline for the duration of the stay of the Squad based on the level of Destruction and the need the materials that we brought over here that was brought over here are mainly um Lumber um PVC stuff to do plumbing because what we what we observed that most of the damages here at on the building of CaRu happen to be the roof the roof in so we have um zinc sheets wood for um Roofing and sealing materials as well as um Plumbing materials that would be the bulk of the work that would be done I cannot see exactly how long um it would be but I think it would be determined on the scope of work that has to be done the housing stock in CaRu and P Marik were severely damaged during the passage of hurricane Barrel