Given the region’s vulnerability to hurricanes and other natural disasters, the New York-based Caribbean Diaspora United, Inc. (CDU), under the leadership of former Grenada Ambassador to the United Nations Eugene M. Pursoo, launched its Caribbean Diaspora Permanent Natural Disaster Fund on Saturday, July 12.
The launch occurred at CDU’s Second Annual Community Unity Breakfast at the exquisite Russo’s on the Bay on Crossway Boulevard in Howard Beach, Queens.
“The Caribbean region is one of the world’s regions most prone to natural disaster, particularly hurricanes,” said Amb. Pursoo in launching the Fund. “Every year, the region experiences extensive devastation from hurricanes, coastal erosion, landslides, flooding, occasional volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.
“From the smallest islands like Carriacou (one of Grenada’s two sister isles; the other is Petite Martinique) through the Windwards (Windward Islands), Barbados, the Leeward Islands, the larger islands like Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Haiti, these disasters wreak havoc on the local economies, resulting in severe dislocations and deaths,” he added.
Pursoo said that while hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and the current menace of sargassum invasions make the news, quiet disasters like coral bleaching, the disappearance of mangroves, and other environmental threats are occurring with little fanfare.
“Businesses in the coastal zones, the cradle of our economic development, would find it increasingly difficult to secure adequate insurance coverage,” he said. “Regardless of the cause of our problems, we have the primary obligation to fix them.”
Pursoo, who is rapidly emerging as a prominent leader in the Caribbean Diaspora community with the capacity to engage with the wider New York communities, made it clear that the CDU Disaster Fund is intended to be a permanent fund that would enable the Diaspora to expedite relief to the affected countries.
“Throughout the year, we’ll be appealing to you,” the former Grenadian envoy told patrons at the event, which brought together close to 500 attendees from the New York Caribbean Diaspora, the African American Community, the Continental African Diaspora, the Indo-Caribbean Community, and other ethnicities.
New York State Sen. Siela A. Bynoe, a first-generation Caribbean-American, who chairs the Senate Standing Committee on Libraries, also urged patrons to contribute to the Fund.
“When we hear of these storms, I encourage each of you to make a donation – make a donation from your heart,” said the representative for Nassau County, Long Island, 6th Senate District, whose father hailed from Suriname and mother from St. Kitts and Nevis.
The event’s guest of honor, Pennelope A. Beckles-Robinson – upon whom several locally-elected officials, entertainers and other New York City dignitaries bestowed citations and awards in celebration of her historic achievement as the first woman to be elected leader of the People’s National Movement (PNM) in Trinidad and Tobago – said she had “the good fortune to be Minister of Environment” when the Nutmeg Industry was “almost wiped out.”
“The prime minister at the time, Patrick Manning, decided to send me to Grenada,” said Beckles-Robinson, referring to widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
“You have a situation that you don’t understand what happens in many Caribbean countries,” added the former permanent representative of Trinidad and Tobago to the United Nations. “When the volcano erupted in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, ash went to Barbados.
“Another way is sargassum,” Beckles-Robinson continued. “You go to St. Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua, and you can’t benefit from using the beaches.”
Sargassum is a type of free-floating brown seaweed (algae) that forms large mats in the ocean, particularly in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, and has recently become a menace on Caribbean beaches.
Beckles-Robinson said it is “important” that the Fund be set up to assist the region during natural disasters.
“I cannot overemphasize the importance of this initiative,” she said. “I urge each and every one of you to support this Fund.”
Eugene said checks can be made payable to CDU Disaster Fund and mailed to 805 Pepperidge Rd., Westbury, NY 11590.
