Relief programme helps hurricane victims
Hurricane Dean might be a memory for most of us but many of those directly affected by the storm are still coping with its effects. As News Five’s Kendra Griffith reports, today one group of hurricane victims received some appreciated relief.
Kendra Griffith, Reporting
This morning fishermen from Caye Caulker, San Pedro, Sarteneja, and Belize City converged on the Fisheries compound in the old capital. Since the men lost their traps and shades in Hurricane Dean, it’s been a struggle to ply their trade. But as part of ongoing recovery efforts, today the fishermen received construction material to replace their lost equipment.
Beverly Wade, Fisheries Administrator
“Today’s donation is a follow up to the aid that we gave earlier this year, which is a part of that big grant that we got through UNDP and the GEF small grants project to try and give back to the fishermen some of the loss that they experienced from the last hurricane that hit Belize.”
Forty-seven year old Marcelo Canto is a lobster fisherman from Caye Caulker. He is one of the more than two hundred fishermen who were affected by the storm.
Marcelo Canto, Fisherman, Caye Caulker
“I pay like four hundred and fifty dollars for the sheets of zincs. I had ninety sheets of zinc shared out for forty-five sheds, but after the storm, I only find like three of them and only one of them mi inna good shape.”
Kendra Griffith
“What have you been doing since then?”
Marcelo Canto
“I still fish for the next man, but I fish for him as a side man because I noh have mi traps anymore.”
Kendra Griffith
“So today you are going to be getting material for you to start building your own traps?”
Marcelo Canto
“Yeah, I excited.”
Eight fishermen from the village of Sarteneja in the Corozal District were also among today’s beneficiaries.
Romel Blanco Jr., Fisherman, Sarteneja
“We are not getting for all the traps that we lost, but we are getting some and we are glad.”
Beverly Wade
“This is the final amount of equipment that we will be giving them. We have some funds coming in that will be used for some equipment but directly to give them some aid in repairs for engines and stuff like canoes that they had lost. The majority of that aid will then go into a series of workshops, sustainability workshops, because we want to, at the same time where we are re-equipping fishers, trying to build back their capacity, at the same time we want to ensure they understand the sustainable aspects of fishing to ensure that we continue to have a viable industry.”
According to Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Gabino Canto, government is trying to secure five million dollars in additional aid to be used as low interest loans.
Gabino Canto, C.E.O. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
“We are working with the cooperative department, closely with the fisheries department to work with the people involved in the industry and that is the only way how we can provide technical assistance and also find out what are the problems so that we can intervene.”
The supplies distributed this morning are valued at fifty-three thousand dollars. Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.
The Fisheries Department will receive a total of two hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars for its Relief and Recovery Programme. Funding for the initiative is coming from the UNDP, COMPACT, and the governments of Singapore and the Czech Republic.
