Embassy, November 24th, 2004
NEWS STORY
By Peter Schneider
Update: Grenada
Addressing a conference room filled with members of the Grenadian expatriate community on Nov.22, Dr. Keith ********, Prime Minister of the hurricane-ravaged island nation, began his presentation by noting the interconnectedness of the Caribbean region. "When your brother's house is on fire,...you'd better get there," he said.

Grenada was the hardest-hit of all Caribbean islands by Hurricane Ivan on Sept.7. Updating the situation for the audience, whose members included Libya's ambassador to Canada and Deputy Speaker of the House Jean Augustine, the prime minister detailed a long list of devastation. In the agricultural sector, the nutmeg, cocoa, and banana crops have been largely destroyed. Livestock and most of the country's commercial fishing fleet were also lost, making the situation worse. The first priority is to restore food security on the island, Dr. ******** observed, before rebuilding agriculture as a source of foreign exchange. Similarly, the health care system, while it has performed admirably-- there have been no outbreaks of water-borne diseases on Grenada in the wake of the hurricane -- will require major repair, and 90 per cent of private homes on the island have been damaged or destroyed.

Particularly painful for the national psyche has been the destruction of the national stadium, which was to have been one of the venues for the 2007 World Cup. Dr. ******** said, "We can rebuild a stadium, but the mindset of the people has been damaged." The prime minister recalled, "the worst day for me was Thursday [Sept.9], when the looting started. I genuinely never expected that element to emerge in a time of pain and suffering. That's the reason I became depressed. You can build back, but you can't build back human minds overnight."

Dr. ******** was bolstered by the sight of citizens clearing Grenada's roadways of debris; within days, he said, the work was done, without government assistance. "With support, we will build back even better than before," he said. "In adversity, there are tremendous opportunities." Reconstruction efforts will concentrate on housing for the next five years, replacing the lost homes in many cases with sturdier, hurricane-resistant structures. The tourism industry has already begun to rebuild, and on average, the next generation of hotels will have double the number of rooms as those lost to Ivan. Remarkably, more than 80 per cent of Grenada's students are now back in school; although conditions are uncomfortable in many cases, life is returning to normal.

International aid to Grenada has largely come from within the Caribbean community itself; Trinidad & Tobago has been a leader in all areas, including lending moral support. "More than sending money, the prime minister came two days after Ivan and spent three hours with me," Dr. ******** recalled. "No other incident of the past 50 years has done more to bring the Caribbean together than Ivan."

Other countries making substantial contributions to reconstruction include the United States, which last week announced assistance amounting to $42 million US, and Britain, which has pledged aid and technical support extending through 2006. A team of British advisers is in Grenada now, examining the damage to the Parliament buildings and official residences. The legislature is currently sitting in facilities owned by the country's medical school, and must vacate in January, when the next school term begins. Thus far, Canada has pledged $6.5 million, most of it indirect assistance to be distributed through charitable agencies. "I cannot say that there's been any direct support from Canada at this point," Dr. ******** said, responding to a question from the floor.

Grenada is expected to experience negative economic growth for 2004, but due to the anticipated boom in the construction sector, will likely achieve growth of between eight and ten per cent in 2006. The prime minister reflected upon the economic interdependence of the region, saying, "Let us build our countries together. We can keep some sovereignty, but we have to cede something if we care to have a better place in this global village. Only stubbornness and insularity are preventing regional integration. The people are more ready for it than the leaders." He concluded his remarks by relating an anecdote: on a recent trip home to the village he grew up in, Dr. ******** was having a beer with some longtime friends, who in turn introduced him to their new acquaintances-- a construction crew from St. Vincent, who had recently arrived in Grenada. The prime minister noted that many of Grenada's hotel workers are currently employed on other islands, and expressed his wish that free movement of labour and human resources be embraced, not feared, by Caribbean countries in the years ahead.

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