That was really interesting - Thank youSome aspects of this whole situation trouble me.
Boats from Barbados have taken donated supplies to St Vincent - supplies donated by folk who have paid local retail prices here, including duties and VAT, on these supplies.
There should be a system in place here for donations to be effectively tax free - and for the cost to be ideally wholesale rather than retail.
I proposed a system after the last set of hurricanes whereby folk could put some $$'s on account with a distribution company here for the purchase of goods at the duty free whole sale price, and then the distribution company could supply what is actually needed (subject to the funds being donated of course). Otherwise they might end up with lots of paper towels, but no tins of corned beef. Or vice versa.
But nobody here seemed to be too interested in this proposal then
In addition, five cruise ships were sent to St Vincent initially - Serenade of the Seas zoomed down there at 19 knots from here, and she ended up transporting a total of 136 Vincentians to St Lucia who had a plane to catch (they had to get to Canada under the Farm Labour Scheme there). And umm, that was about it.
Serenade is now back here in Barbados, there are two Celebrity ships stooging around off St Vincent, there were two Carnival ships loitering for a while off St Vincent, but they appear to be heading up to St Maarten now.
Why should little boats be carrying expensive bottled water to St Vincent? This will be just a drop in the ocean. Couldn't a cruise ship run their RO plants out at sea, fill their water tanks, and then come along side in Kingstown to act as a floating water tanker?
There are heart renching stories of the shelters full of people and having no food or water or toilet facilities.
I realise that the cruise ships are working with minimum skeleton crews, but rather than stooging around, they should still be able to cope with putting up some refugees on board for a few days at least while things hopefully stabilise?
Of course Covid compounds everything as well - in which case quarantine people on board, where they are not allowed out of their cabins.
My sister lives in Australia, and recently returned there from here - she is currently halfway through a 2 week enforced quarantine in a room at an airport hotel in Sydney. She is not allowed out under any circumstance, and food (basic and pretty dire - and she is not fussy) is dropped off outside the door. The same could be done with refugees on a ship surely?
Ok, I hear cries of 'the ship does not have enough food for all these people' - but which is worse, being stuck in a shelter ashore with no food, power, running water or loos, or stuck on a ship with water, loos and some survival rations?
I get the impression that the whole situation could have been better managed, but I don't know who is at fault as such - probably a combination of everybody is at fault, along with cumbersome bureaucracy.
Edit - there is currently a large fast catamaran ferry from Trinidad berthed in Kingstown - hopefully she has brought much needed supplies.
GALLEONS PASSAGE (Ro-Ro/Passenger Ship) Registered in Trinidad Tobago - Vessel details, Current position and Voyage information - IMO 9772888, MMSI 362239000, Call Sign 9YNI
Two of our Coastguard vessels (42 m. Damen OPVs) delivered a few tonnes of supplies from Barbados at the weekend, but they will not go very far.
Some aspects of this whole situation trouble me.
Boats from Barbados have taken donated supplies to St Vincent - supplies donated by folk who have paid local retail prices here, including duties and VAT, on these supplies.
There should be a system in place here for donations to be effectively tax free - and for the cost to be ideally wholesale rather than retail.
I proposed a system after the last set of hurricanes whereby folk could put some $$'s on account with a distribution company here for the purchase of goods at the duty free whole sale price, and then the distribution company could supply what is actually needed (subject to the funds being donated of course). Otherwise they might end up with lots of paper towels, but no tins of corned beef. Or vice versa.
But nobody here seemed to be too interested in this proposal then
In addition, five cruise ships were sent to St Vincent initially - Serenade of the Seas zoomed down there at 19 knots from here, and she ended up transporting a total of 136 Vincentians to St Lucia who had a plane to catch (they had to get to Canada under the Farm Labour Scheme there). And umm, that was about it.
Serenade is now back here in Barbados, there are two Celebrity ships stooging around off St Vincent, there were two Carnival ships loitering for a while off St Vincent, but they appear to be heading up to St Maarten now.
Why should little boats be carrying expensive bottled water to St Vincent? This will be just a drop in the ocean. Couldn't a cruise ship run their RO plants out at sea, fill their water tanks, and then come along side in Kingstown to act as a floating water tanker?
There are heart renching stories of the shelters full of people and having no food or water or toilet facilities.
I realise that the cruise ships are working with minimum skeleton crews, but rather than stooging around, they should still be able to cope with putting up some refugees on board for a few days at least while things hopefully stabilise?
Of course Covid compounds everything as well - in which case quarantine people on board, where they are not allowed out of their cabins.
My sister lives in Australia, and recently returned there from here - she is currently halfway through a 2 week enforced quarantine in a room at an airport hotel in Sydney. She is not allowed out under any circumstance, and food (basic and pretty dire - and she is not fussy) is dropped off outside the door. The same could be done with refugees on a ship surely?
Ok, I hear cries of 'the ship does not have enough food for all these people' - but which is worse, being stuck in a shelter ashore with no food, power, running water or loos, or stuck on a ship with water, loos and some survival rations?
I get the impression that the whole situation could have been better managed, but I don't know who is at fault as such - probably a combination of everybody is at fault, along with cumbersome bureaucracy.
Edit - there is currently a large fast catamaran ferry from Trinidad berthed in Kingstown - hopefully she has brought much needed supplies.
GALLEONS PASSAGE (Ro-Ro/Passenger Ship) Registered in Trinidad Tobago - Vessel details, Current position and Voyage information - IMO 9772888, MMSI 362239000, Call Sign 9YNI
Two of our Coastguard vessels (42 m. Damen OPVs) delivered a few tonnes of supplies from Barbados at the weekend, but they will not go very far.