PARAMARIBO – Suriname will send shipping containers that are filled with aid to the islands that were hit by Hurricane Beryl several weeks ago. Colonel Jerry Slijngard, coordinator at the National Coordination Central for Disaster Control (NCCR) explained that Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines had issued a call for help.

Suriname will reportedly send two shipping containers to these islands. Each country will receive 13 tons of aid. “We will send rice, flour, pasta and tarpaulins at their request,” said Colonel Slijngard. Several donors made it possible to carry out his project. Slijngard explained that all of the goods have already been collected in the warehouse of the NCCR and that they would be shipped via Tropical Shipping. All of the member states of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) will also lend a helping hand.

Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago have already provided aid. Colonel Slijngard explained that Suriname chose to provide aid at the appropriate time because it is often problematic to send aid immediately after a natural disaster has occurred. “The situation in the countries that are hit is often chaotic and the harbors are usually not operational yet. Everything is currently upside down.” Suriname will reportedly donate $100,000 to each of these countries. It has also given $25,000 to the CDEMA to support the operations of this organisation…[+]