GEORGETOWN, Guyana — Secretary-general of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Irwin LaRocque has expressed relief that there had been no loss of life in The Bahamas following the passage of Hurricane Irene.
LaRocque has been monitoring the progress of the hurricane and had discussions on Friday with the prime minister of The Bahamas, Hubert Ingraham about the situation in that member state.
The secretary-general has also been in constant contact with the executive director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), Jeremy Collymore from whom he was receiving briefings on the situation. On Friday, Collymore had flown to Jamaica, which is the sub-regional focal point in CDEMA for the area including The Bahamas.
Ingraham, in an address to his nation on Friday evening, indicated that the CDB had advised of availability of an emergency relief grant of up to US $200,000 and soft loans if required.
