Saturday, September 6 2008

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Paula Gopee-Scoon...

JAMAICA, Haiti and Cuba will receive roughly $26.3 million worth of aid from this country in the wake of the devastation caused by the passing of Hurricanes Gustav and Hanna.

Foreign Affairs Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon made this announcement yesterday, as the Caribbean braced itself for further destruction as even more storms set their paths across its islands.

Jamaica and Haiti will receive $10 million in aid each, while Cuba will receive $6.3 million, the minister said at a special press conference held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Knowsley, Port-of-Spain.

“As I speak yesterday Hurricanes Hanna, Ike and Josephine are still active threats,” Gopee-Scoon said. “We are very conscious of the challenge posed by natural disasters and feel impelled to assist our neighbours to the extent that we can and stand in solidarity with them.”

Gopee-Scoon revealed that the funds for Haiti and Jamaica will come from the Caricom Petroleum Fund. That fund was estimated to stand at $562 million yesterday as $344 million was paid out of the fund for the year 2007.

The Petroleum Fund was established by Government in 1994, Gopee-Scoon noted, “as a quick-disbursing grant facility with disbursement on a non-discriminatory basis” among Caricom countries. The funds for Cuba will come from the Contingency Fund.