Dominica assesses earthquake damage

The collapsed steeple of the Portsmouth Roman
Catholic Church

by Norman 'Gus' Thomas 
Caribbean Net News Special Regional Correspondent

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands: Regional responses expressing concern and support have begun pouring into Dominica following the "severe shaking" the island got from an earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale on Sunday morning.

The country's Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, held a meeting with members of the Disaster and Emergency Service to review the situation and plan the way forward.

Speaking to Caribbean Net News following the meeting, PM Skerrit said there was indeed serious structural damage to several buildings including the Portsmouth Hospital (which had to be evacuated) and the cutting-off of several villages from the mainstream of things. The meeting of the National Emergency Planning Organization (NEPO) took reports from Cabinet, heads of departments, permanent secretaries as well as statutory bodies. 

It was reported that officials in the agriculture department are still assessing the damage done to farm access roads as well as crops. Early indications are that several access roads for farming in the Marigot area are blocked. Marigot is the banana belt of Dominica.

The country's tourism sector is safe as no damage was done the island's sea port and all hotels seem to have been spared structural damages, tourism officials reported.

During an earthquake, safe water is a primary concern. To this end, the Dominica Water and Sewage Company Limited (DOWASCO) has reported that heavy rains over the last few weeks has affected the water intake in several areas and pointed out that a number of villages across the country including Grand Fond in the east and Clifton in the north have no water. 

Work is continuing on clearing landslides in parts of the country. Prior to the occurrence of the earthquake on Sunday, the Ministry was grappling with landslides in the east and north east brought on by several days of heavy rains. At the moment only Grand Fond is cut off from the rest of Dominica and the Ministry of Communication and Works is working feverishly to rectify the problem before the end of the week it was also reported.

Meanwhile, words of solidarity and promises of assistance have been coming from sister countries and agencies. The list includes Grenada who wrote: “The Government and people of Grenada hold the Government and people of Dominica in our prayers and stand ready to render whatever support is possible to help minimize any traumatic effects that today’s earthquake may have caused. Not long ago, Grenada experienced the most devastating effect of Hurricane Ivan and is today ever more knowledgeable about the pain that come when natural disasters strike. While we toil at our own situation here at home, and with the understanding of your suffering over the destruction, please be assured that the Government and people of Grenada hold the Government and people of the Commonwealth of Dominica in high esteem, as a close friend binding together in the Caribbean family.”

The Caribbean Tourist Organization also expressed solidarity: "The Board of Directors, Member Countries, Allied Members and Staff of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) wish to express our deep regret and concern to the Governments and peoples of Member Countries Dominica and Guadeloupe over the damage caused by Sunday’s earthquake, and in the case of Dominica, slides which have been triggered by heavy rains. We express sincerest condolences to the family of the child in Guadeloupe who lost his life as a result of the quake. Our thoughts are also with the people whose homes were damaged or destroyed."

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