Barbados given US$20m in disaster recovery funds

BARBADOS has received over US$20 million from the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility since it was founded in 2007.

Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Senator Darcy Boyce made this announcement on Monday as he praised the regional organisation for its role in assisting disaster-stricken countries.

Speaking to other shareholders of the facility and members of the media at the Caribbean Development Bank headquarters in Wildey, St Michael, Boyce said that Barbados had benefited from the facility several times.

“The first was in October, 2010, after the passage of Tropical Storm Tomas which wreaked havoc over the entire landscape of Barbados . . . leaving an estimated US$17.2 million in damages,” Boyce said.

“The second occasion was in November, 2014, where the facility came to the aid of Barbados and financed an estimated US$2.6 million worth of damages due to a trough system which generated excess rainfall of around 261 millimetres in a matter of hours.”

Boyce said the last time Barbados received funding was when Tropical Storm Matthew passed last year. The country received US$3.4 million. (AD)