Nassau, Bahamas – The United States Government’s donation of $59,000 toward the Hurricane Wilma relief effort is regarded as a move towards a family-oriented relationship with The Bahamas’ closest neighbor.
Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie made the observation during a check presentation by US Ambassador to The Bahamas, His Excellency John D. Rood, on Thursday, November 3, at the Office of the Prime Minister in the Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield Centre.
Prime Minister Christie also thanked the United States Government for a previous donation of $600,000, to be matched by his Government, for the construction of a headquarters for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). He further thanked the US Government for a grant to build warehouses on certain Family Islands to house materials in preparation for disasters.
“The Government, to ensure the suitability of your investment, will add funds wherever it feels necessary to do so, to ensure we have the right size. But clearly, we are now engaged in a massive effort with a view to recognizing in our country, those areas that are more vulnerable areas and trying then to design plans and programs to anticipate disasters to better prepare ourselves,” the Prime Minister said.
He also told Ambassador Rood that as The Bahamas is about to enact hurricane disaster preparedness legislation, the country will be able to benefit from the US experiences and technical resources dedicated to disaster preparedness, and to connect its hurricane preparedness to Florida’s.
Ambassador Rood expressed gratitude to The Bahamas for its generous donations to the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts for New Orleans.
“It was very touching, the financial assistance from the Government. The amount of money that was raised was unbelievable. It showed that The Bahamas is truly one of our close friends and they have come to our assistance in our times of need,” Ambassador Rood said.
The ambassador said one of the most moving aspects of the relief effort was the prayer service he attended after Hurricane Katrina, which he also considered one of the highlights of his tenure in The Bahamas. He said he was also “very touched” by the donation made by a group of school students, through a bake sale, to the hurricane relief effort.
Ambassador Rood said although many of New Orleans families have been displaced, they have found new homes and new opportunities.
The ambassador also said that the 19 homes under construction in West End, Grand Bahama, devastated by last year’s twin hurricanes Frances and Jeanne – will be completed by the end of January, 2006.
He said keys to the new homes were to be presented by the end of the year, but construction has been delayed due to Hurricane Wilma.
“Right now, we are faced with the aftermath of this most recent storm that swept through Grand Bahama and I want to express our deepest sympathy for the suffering and tragedy that has taken place up there,” he said. “Our countries have both seen first hand the incredible impact on human lives and on families and the economies that these storms can cause.”
Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Sen. the Hon. James Smith, who accepted the check on behalf of NEMA, acknowledged that The Bahamas and the United States have shared a close relationship for many years.
Unfortunately, he said, both countries seem to also share nature’s worst -hurricanes.
“Each year we are probably going to be doing something like this because Florida and The Bahamas lie in the hurricane zone and the best thing I think we can do is improve planning to reduce the amount of victims of the hurricanes,” Mr. Smith said.
“While we will continue to rely on the public to come forward or the Governments to do what we can to reconstruct after hurricanes, we must also depend very much upon ourselves and our prayers to reduce the calamity that follows events like this,” he added.
The Prime Minister noted that The Bahamas is not only geographically close to the United States, but that many Bahamians live there, including his grandmother, at 49 West 110 St in New York, for nearly 50 years.
“That has all augured well for our country. I look forward to this relationship of kin and being kin folks to somehow be reflected in the policies of our respective countries,” he said.
