St Lucia’s Defence Force was called into action yesterday when hundreds of citizens burst through gates and bombarded Barbadian fishing vessels laden with relief supplies for victims of Hurricane Tomas.
The vessels arrived in St Lucia early yesterday morning.
Jonathan Morgan, one of the owners of Morgan’s Fish House and one of the organisers of the relief effort, said the first shipments offloaded by the Rotary Club of Barbados and The Barbados Red Cross went smoothly. However things turned chaotic after people pleading for water were allowed onto the compound by personnel of the Port Authority and Customs Department.
Morgan said the Defence Force was called in to render assistance, and residents were made to line up in order to be served. The team also removed two fishing boats to a safer location, after things started getting “out of hand”.
The seven fishing boats, which left Barbados on Tuesday night, carried at least 4 000 cases of bottled water, but Morgan said that was “nowhere near enough”. The boat owner said many who rushed the boats had said that taps had been dry since Tomas.
“Those people were just desperate for water! Some hadn’t had a bath for the week and it was chaotic. I couldn’t believe it. All I was hearing is – Can I get water, can I get water?” he related.
Morgan, who praised the boat owners and fishermen for the selfless deed, said originally they were scheduled to take six boats of supplies, but because of the heavy loads, they were forced to call on the owner of Lucky Lady to accompany them on the trip.
“When we realised how heavy the loads were, we had to call Mr Butcher and ask him to accompany us. Although it was late notice, by 3 p.m. he was ready,” he said.
However, communications officer of the St Lucia Red Cross, Marva Oculien, in giving an update said requests for water had been stopped because of challenges.
She confirmed that there was a “security situation” and the Red Cross had lost some items in the morning melee at the dock.
“There is a dire need for water, so persons have been trying to get water from every pocket. Because of that demand, there is a security situation. Persons have been coming into the Red Cross and some are very abusive, so we will be continuing the efforts with what we have received, but we will not be making any more appeals for water,” she stated.
Oculien said the water authority had also indicated that it would hopefully be reinstalling water to some communities by the end of the week.
