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Notwithstanding current tensions within the Caribbean Community (Caricom), all brothers and sisters in the region are rallying around Jamaica as the northern neighbour does all it can to survive the slow passage of the monstrous Hurricane Melissa. The intense system made landfall yesterday. Three people were reported dead before midday, and at 1 p.m. winds of 185 mph were being reported by weather service personnel on the ground. Jamaica performed the admirable task of doing all that was possible to prepare for this moment. In Melissa’s aftermath, generous assistance from the region, the international community, and NGOs will be required to restore Jamaica’s infrastructure, as well as that of the other countries in the hurricane’s path. Continuing tensions involving T&T’s support for the United States build-up of substantial military assets in the southern Caribbean accompanied by the US executive’s rhetoric against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro did not prevent Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar from launching early efforts at tangible support for Jamaica. Even as the warship, the USS Gravely, remains docked in Port of Spain, triggering a plentitude of threats and insults from Venezuela, Mrs Persad-Bissessar announced on Monday that T&T was prepared to offer manpower, technical resources, emergency supplies and foodstuffs to aid Jamaica’s relief and recovery efforts. This was communicated to Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness. To ensure a coordinated national response, the PM said the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM), the T&T Defence Force (TTDF) and the ministries of National Security, Defence and Foreign and Caricom Affairs will work cohesively to deliver the support. Guyana’s President, Dr Irfaan Ali, supportive too of the US military presence in the region and therefore also at variance with Caricom’s position, reached out to assure Jamaica that the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) are fully mobilised and stand ready to support every effort. He said Guyana remained committed to regional co-operation and will assist through established emergency channels. Bermuda, too, is standing in solidarity with Jamaica “in this time of uncertainty”, according to Premier David Burt, who asked that we remember also Hurricane Melissa’s potential impact on other Caribbean countries. Caricom, meanwhile, reaffirmed its commitment to a collective effort to support recovery and reconstruction in Jamaica and other affected member states, including Haiti, The Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands, in the aftermath of the hurricane. This collective effort will be delivered through the coordinated efforts of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA). Prime Minister Holness publicly acknowledged the regional support, saying, “All the Caricom countries have reached out to pledge support in one way, shape or form...” This is a moment to note that nations of the region will not always agree, but disagreement does not disrupt or destroy Caribbean people’s solidarity. We are reminded of the late Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott’s philosophy expressed through his grand poetic opus that earned him international acclaim: “Break a vase, and the love that reassembles the fragments is stronger than that love which took its symmetry for granted when it was whole.”
