US continues to provide relief aid to Caribbean

WASHINGTON D.C.:

The United States is continuing to provide more aid to Jamaica and other Caribbean countries in the wake of destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa.

The announcement was made even as United States legislators called on the Trump administration to provide more aid to the affected countries.

The US Department of State said the Trump administration has also announced nearly US$12.6 million in additional disaster assistance on November 10, bringing the total US assistance in the wake of Hurricane Melissa to nearly US$37 million.

In addition, the State Department said the US has deployed a DART, comprised of State Department disaster response experts, to The Bahamas, The Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica on October 29; the deployment of the Fairfax County and Los Angeles County Fire Departments' USAR teams to Jamaica to support search and rescue operations and debris clearing efforts; and 530,000 pounds of relief commodities, including food, safe drinking water, and shelter supplies, airlifted by the US Southern Command's Joint Task Force-Bravo to hard-hit communities in western Jamaica.

The Department said the administration has delivered 12,000 tarps, 12,000 shelter kits, and hygiene supplies for 12,000 families to Jamaica from a State Department warehouse in Miami, Florida; distributed nearly 3,000 plastic sheeting and shelter kits -- prepositioned by the US in Haiti -- via the International Organisation for Migration for Haitians displaced by the storm; distributed food commodities by the UN World Food Program to 12,700 people in Haiti; supported the Bahamas Red Cross Society to provide shelter and water, sanitation, and hygiene support; and provided funding for Caritas in Cuba "to ensure Cuban people affected by Hurricane Melissa receive assistance without the interference of the Cuban regime".

"The United States continues to stand by the people of Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, and The Bahamas as they recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa," the department said.

"The United States remains steadfast in its commitment to helping our neighbours recover from this disaster and will continue to explore additional ways to provide meaningful assistance during this critical time," it added.

Caribbean-American Democratic Coangresswoman Yvette D. Clarke said she and New York Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks have led 56 of their colleagues in a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging the Trump administration to continue immediate humanitarian and recovery assistance to Jamaica in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.

Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York, chairs the Congressional Black Caucus.

Meeks represents the 5th Congressional District in Queens, New York.

"We write to express our deep concern and solidarity with the people of Jamaica following the catastrophic passage of Hurricane Melissa," the letter says. "We welcome the deployment of a Disaster Assistance Response Team and respectfully urge the Department of State to continue immediate humanitarian and recovery assistance to support Jamaica's response to this unprecedented disaster."

- CMC