KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent – Tourism Minister, Carlos James, says it could take nearly two years for the tourism sector in St. Vincent and the Grenadines to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Beryl on July 1.
(CMC Photo)“The experts suggest that it takes a minimum of 23 months before we can see full recovery and robust economic activity on a post-natural hazard of that nature,” James said after the government successfully tabled an EC$136 million (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) supplemental budget package.
He said that the Southern Grenadines, the part of the country worst affected by Hurricane Beryl, is largely dependent on tourism and that apart from the repair of homes, to which the government has allocated EC$22 million, ”the most important thing that the government can do is to inject resources into SMEs (small and midsize enterprises) directly at the heart of sustainable livelihoods”.
The Tourism Minister said that the fiscal package included eight million dollars for income support for tourism stakeholders, adding that a further EC$500,000 was allocated to the Promoting Youth Micro Enterprises programme exclusively for Grenadine residents.
He said that EC$1.5 million will also go towards the rehabilitation of tourism sites across the country.
James said two technical experts from the Barbados-based Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) had wrapped up a rapid assessment of the tourism sector in the Grenadines.
“And from that rapid assessment report, it will inform our decision on how we, as a ministry and all of the stakeholders within the industry, how we move forward to do further assessments.”
He said from this week he intends to have “almost every single officer within the Ministry of Tourism and the Tourism Authority outsourced into the field to the Southern Grenadines, in Mayreau, Union Island, Canouan, Bequia, to interview and to capture data from the stakeholders within the tourism sector”.
He said that the challenges with transportation had caused a temporary halt to the plan.
“We are hoping we can facilitate alternative transportation arrangements so we can be in the field, supporting our stakeholders and supporting the employees within the tourism sector,” James said, adding “we have to hit ground zero, and we have to put the resources in place to support our stakeholders.”
He spoke of the need to implement a tourism disaster management framework in keeping with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction adopted by the United Nations.
“It’s a policy initiative which will focus on how we respond immediately in the aftermath, first, our preparation and our response in the aftermath of natural hazards,” James said.
He said the government will also examine a sustainable livelihoods framework for tourism, which puts into focus promoting and integrating disaster management approaches within the tourism sector.
“These are two important policy initiatives, which I think is part of our recovery in building resilience. There’s a plethora of guided policies from the UN disaster risk reduction measures that can be implemented from what we’re building out here.”
The tourism minister said the government believes that apart from rebuilding houses, it is imperative to focus on the tourism industry and the businesses that are related to tourism in the Southern Grenadines.
“Because if that is where the majority of persons within the islands make a living, we have to put the injection in to support and put the resources in to support their recovery and help them to get back on their feet,” James said.
