Government and International Support for Barbados Boat Owners Affected by Hurricane Beryl and Improving Fishing Sector

Government could be placing nearly $2 million at the disposal of boat owners who lost their vessels or were left with severely damaged boats during the passage of Hurricane Beryl on July 1.

In addition, some CARICOM neighbours and two international banks will also help with important financing targeting the reintroduction to fishing in the next few months.

This was revealed recently by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley during her address at the Barbados Labour Party’s Christ Church South meeting which nominated Senator Dr Shantal Munro-Knight to be its candidate in the next General Election.

Boat owners who use the Berinda Cox Fish Market in Oistins within the constituency, were also affected by the heavy storm surge associated with Beryl, as the facility was lashed by 20-foot waves that led to some vessels being sunk and others severely damaged. The same existed at the larger Bridgetown Fisheries Complex where more than 40 boats had to be salvaged.

Mottley said she intends to make sure the affected fisherfolk are facilitated to get their lives back on track. “We are going to stand in the breach to rebuild the fishing industry,” she declared.

She reiterated that her Government will give a 25 per cent grant to fishermen towards repairs and new boat purchases.

“I want to thank the fishing community for the most part in this country for their sense of reasonableness and understanding, but also to recognise that the Government has moved with dispatch. There has not yet been a full report to the country on this matter. Those who do not pay national insurance, we had to introduce a Business Interruption Benefit because people must have a living wage in this country if not they fall through the cracks.”

The Prime Minister said that benefit was intended to stave off the worst.

“Adrian Forde (Minister of the Environment, National Beautification, and the Blue and Green Economy) has been leading this effort for us with the chief fisheries officer and his permanent secretary, who have spent long hours dealing with the issue. We have already advanced $1 million but it could reach near $2 million. It will probably cover them (boat owners) for three months, but we have done more.”

She thanked a few countries which had reached out to help since the hurricane, including Dominica, the Cayman Islands and Rwanda.

Dominica has already sent EC$1 million to help, Mottley revealed.

“It is truly reflective of the solidarity we enjoy in this region. The premier of the Cayman Islands spoke to me a week ago and they too have sent money. To the Latin American Development Bank, they were the first out of the blocks, and the African Export-Import Bank. I can go on. That money will be put in the benevolent fund for the fisherfolk community, every cent of it. We recognised that even beyond our first three months of the Business Interruption Benefit there would still be a need for money. We want people to get back to fishing as soon as possible.”

Mottley said she had recently met with two Canadian ministers, along with that country’s private sector in the province of Nova Scotia.

“They have arranged to work with us to help get us back on our feet. The reality is that there are only two moulds in Barbados to build fishing boats, and each boat will take three months to build. That can’t work,” she stressed. “They have different types of boats in Canada, but we will work with them.”

Consultations are also set to start with officials from Dominica to help provide moulds, which could lead to more boat-building in Barbados in the coming months.

Speaking to a standing-room-only crowd, Mottley thanked all the people at the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex, which was the worst affected by Beryl.

“I also want to thank the Barbados Defence Force. If we didn’t have the Barbados Defence Force, we could not have gotten through COVID-19. It is the Barbados Defence Force that coordinated the clean-up of the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex day after day (after Beryl),” she said while noting that 90 per cent of the country’s fishing industry had been adversely affected.