Minister Camillo Gonsalves: “Government has done an excellent job in responding to this disaster.”
Minister of Finance, Hon. Camillo Gonsalves, has praised the Government’s response to Hurricane Beryl, describing the recovery and rebuilding efforts as remarkable given the scale of destruction and the country’s limited resources.
Speaking at the official launch of the Beryl Resilience and Recovery (Berry) Project on Monday, Minister Gonsalves noted that initial estimates by the World Bank placed damages from the hurricane at EC$875 million. However, a comprehensive assessment has since revealed that losses surpassed EC$1 billion.
Hurricane Beryl devastated several key sectors including Housing, Fisheries, Agriculture, Tourism, and Education infrastructure, ultimately erasing nearly one-third of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and affecting an estimated 20 percent of the population.
“In a small country with a small economy… one third of our GDP, 20 per cent of our population [affected], and one year later, we have restored housing to over 4,000 affected people,” Minister Gonsalves stated. “We have reduced the number of people housed in touristic accommodations from over a thousand to just a couple hundred. We have restored electricity and water across most of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Government has done an excellent job in responding to this disaster.”
He emphasized that the Government’s rebuilding efforts have prioritized resilience and climate-smart infrastructure, noting that “we are building back better” in light of increasing climate threats.
“We have to build a St. Vincent and the Grenadines that is resilient, that is responsive, that is nimble, and that can stand up and face down these cataclysmic events,” Minister Gonsalves added. “We are well underway in doing that—not just as recovery, but as a permanent disaster response mechanism.”
The Berry Project is one of several initiatives aimed at long-term recovery and national resilience as the country adapts to a new era of climate challenges.