Prime Minister Patrick Manning has said that Caricom will have to act soon to avoid a major social and economic disaster in Grenada if it does not recover quickly from the ravages of Hurricane Ivan. Mr Manning was speaking ahead of an emergency meeting of Caricom heads in Port of Spain on Wednesday at which all Caricom states will be represented, including Grenada whose leader Keith Mitchell will attend in his capacity as Caricom chairman. At the meeting, the leaders and representatives of countries that were hit by Hurricane Ivan will inform Caricom about the extent of damage in their countries and the sort of assistance that is required. Mr Manning said there will be discussions about the implementation of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) in light of the destruction by Hurricane Ivan. He also said that it was within this context that Caricom needed to consider the viability of small island states. He also spoke about media reports in Trinidad about Grenadians seeking refugee status in Trinidad and other neighbouring countries. Grenadian refugees "If some economic activity is not started in Grenada soon, we run the risk of a number of Grenadians moving out to countries nearby," he said. "They have already started to move out to St Vincent and the Grenadines and coming to Trinidad and Tobago is going to be an attractive proposition, so we have to move fast and be decisive in our action." Mr Manning said a house building and rehabilitation programme could be the first priority given the destruction caused by the hurricane. He told the press conference that what he saw on Tuesday during a short tour of some of the affected areas in Jamaica clearly illustrated that that country had been spared the major brunt of the hurricane Prime Minister Manning said his government has allocated $5 million for assistance to all of the territories affected by Hurricane Ivan, including Cuba, where he recently underwent a successful heart operation. SOURCE: BBCCARIBBEAN.COM