THE main batch of Guyana Defence Force (GDF) soldiers flew out to Grenada yesterday morning to help in reconstruction on the hurricane-devastated island. The group of 70, headed by Major Brian Bristol, left to join some 30 others already in Grenada. An initial batch of 22 left Guyana two Saturdays ago on the GDFS Essequibo after being addressed by Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Bharrat Jagdeo. The Guyana contingent is under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Lovell and will help rebuild infrastructure destroyed and damaged when Hurricane Ivan struck the island on September 7. Guyana is among Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries helping in the reconstruction on the island. The tiny southern Caribbean island, with about 90 per cent of its housing stock damaged and the vital tourism and agriculture sectors devastated by Ivan the Terrible, is coming out of the relief phase and is into the crucial rebuilding stage, according to military and government officials. Col. George Robinson, head of some 200 Trinidad and Tobago military deployed on the island, said the Caribbean Support Group Grenada (CSGG) with forces from Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Belize, will back up the recovery programme on the island. They are helping local authorities restore law and order and distribute relief items, and restoring power, water and other supplies. He said the acquisition of building materials is the greatest challenge and Grenada needs the help of the Caribbean to restore normalcy. The need for shelter is urgent as people are trying to rebuild their houses, he told Guyanese journalists visiting the island recently. The GDF contingent in Grenada includes 66 masons, carpenters, electricians, welders and plumbers. The Guyana Government is also coordinating relief through the Civil Defence Commission with the Private Sector Commission and the joint response has seen the provision of humanitarian aid to Grenada by air and sea. Religious and other groups have collected donations for Grenadians in need. Some 26 containers with about 300 tons of supplies from Guyana have been shipped to the island. A central figure in the critical reconstruction programme in Grenada, Mr. Timothy Antoine, Permanent Secretary in the Finance and Planning Ministry, said at least 6,000 low income houses would have to be built to boost the housing stock and the government is trying to raise US$27M to clear and clean land and get agriculture back on track, to provide domestic security and income for farmers. Some 2,000 people have been laid off in the tourism industry with many hotels seriously damaged in the storm and Antoine estimates that rebuilding the sector can take about three years. He said the relief effort is going “quite well” and the focus now was on economic reconstruction. A government official involved in the relief effort said the government faces “a really great problem” and squatting can become a critical issue with the loss of houses. SOURCE: GUYANACHRONICLE.COM