Business View Caribbean | January 2021

17 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN JANUARY 2021 T he CDEMA Coordinating Unit has received funding from the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (UK FCDO) in the amount of £51,000 through the Memorandum of Understanding on the ‘UK Support for the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) Response Teams programme’. The funds will cover the cost of a rotary helicopter aircraft, which will be used to support access to sampling of the extrusive materials, air lifting equipment to the flanks of the volcano, surveillance/reconnaissance to analyse changes in the volcano and other relevant support to the monitoring of the volcanic activity. The request for a rotary aircraft was made by Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves to CDEMA through the National Emergency Management Office (NEMO), St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The aircraft will support the ongoing monitoring by the University of the West Indies (UWI) Seismic Research Centre’s (SRC) scientists on the ground. “The Government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines are grateful to CDEMA and the UK Government (Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office) for their kind assistance in organising and financing the rotary helicopter service, which is necessary to facilitate the SRC and NEMO in conducting vital work in respect of the effusive volcanic eruption at La Soufriere in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Thanks to CDEMA’s Executive Director (ag), Liz Riley and the Coordinating Unit team, who have been magnificent in coordinating the efforts”, expressed Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves. THE UNITED KINGDOM FCDO PROVIDES FUNDING FOR A ROTARY HE MONITORING OF THE ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES LA SOUF OPENING L INES The aircraft will support the ongoing monitoring by the University of the West Indies (UWI) Seismic Research Centre’s (SRC) scientists on the ground