THE Guyana Defence Force (GDF) contingent in Grenada is buckling down to helping reconstruction on the hurricane-devastated island, commander Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Lovell said yesterday. “The morale (of the soldiers) is excellent; they are settled in well and just eager to get on with the business for which they were sent here”, he told the Chronicle in a telephone interview. Six GDF linesmen yesterday began working with teams from the Grenada electricity company in restoring downed power lines. Personnel from Trinidad and Tobago and St. Lucia are also in this programme, Lovell said. The main GDF batch of 70 flew into the island on Monday 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 helping to 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. Lovell said that at a meeting Tuesday with Mr. Crispen Fredericks, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communication, Works and Transport, 10 rebuilding projects were identified for the GDF soldiers. These include six medical facilities, two police stations, the Immigration and Passport office which is in the compound of the Prime Minister’s office complex, and a building housing a magistrate’s court. GDF personnel visited the sites of three of the projects yesterday to determine the scope of work, Lovell said. The Grenadian Government has prioritised the projects allocated to the GDF and they expect to start work on the first building by tomorrow or early next week, he added. The GDF contingent includes 66 masons, carpenters, electricians, welders and plumbers. Lovell pointed out that about half of the Guyanese team there is for the rebuilding programme. Caribbean Community (CARICOM) military deployed on the island are helping local authorities restore law and order and distribute relief items, and restoring power, water and other supplies. Lovell said the security situation has improved with most of the 35 prisoners, who escaped from jail when the hurricane struck, recaptured. The curfew in some parishes has been reduced from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. to from midnight to 5 a.m., he said. He said a “significant feature” of the GDF deployment in Grenada was the signing last Friday of a Status of Forces agreement with the Grenada Government. “Its importance is that it serves to authenticate the rights, privileges and responsibilities of both the Grenadian and Guyanese governments in relation to how the GDF will operate in Grenada.” The agreement was signed by Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Senator Einstein Louison for the Grenada Government, and Lovell for the Guyana Government. The head of the Guyana contingent said accommodation for the Guyanese troops is good. They are at the Camp Salines base of the Grenada Special Services Unit and co-located with the Regional Security Service forces, who number some 99. 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. SOURCE: GUYANACHRONICLE.COM