Climate change issues not sexy but deadly to ignore

We hope that during the revelry of the Christmas holidays, enough of us took time to share the grief of our brothers and sisters in St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, and Dominica, who suffered great damage from deadly floods.

We extend our sympathies with the full knowledge that Jamaica could easily have been affected by the unseasonal rains that wreaked such damage, given that swe share this geographical space called the Caribbean with the affected islands.

Dr Ralph Gonsalves, the prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, has estimated that the damage to his country alone is in excess of US$60 million.

We shudder to think what the final figure will be when the damage to St Lucia and Dominica is tallied.

We are, however, heartened by the response so far of the region, led by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), which quickly sent fact-finding missions to all three affected Caricom states in an effort to determine their needs and make arrangements to aid recovery efforts.

Barbados, we are told, is making available a coast guard vessel to help transport emergency supplies, Trinidad and Tobago has already sent relief supplies, while Jamaica has been making arrangements to assist in the areas that require intervention.

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