Prime Minister Mia Mottley wants two emergency ships in the Caribbean for catastrophe response.
On Monday, she encouraged CARICOM to engage with the international community to pre-position those ships in the north and south.
Recovery ships are needed. “Islands don’t have road networks to transport swiftly and in certain cases, [airport] runways will be devastated in disasters,” Mottley warned at the live-streamed Caribbean regional inauguration of the UN Early Warnings for All Initiative (EW4ALL).
She added, “There are ships that flow and go around the world; some are hospital ships but we need more than a hospital ship because we need a ship to deliver fresh water quickly after a disaster.” This was crucial to prevent cholera outbreaks.
The Barbadian leader also stressed the necessity for small island developing governments to be able to access cheaper funding, especially given their rising debt due to climate change.
We must also acknowledge that arbitrary debt sustainability estimates for small island developing states do not work. Coastal preparation began in the 1980s. Preventing coastal damage is part of our obligation. We know prevention saves seven dollars in recovery. But when you are told that your debt-to-GDP does not allow you to invest enough money to renew a school infrastructure that is 150, 200, or 250 years old, how can you create support systems for people to be relocated pre- and post-disaster?
“We do not have the capacity legitimately to resist big hurricanes in this region that are Category Three and upwards,” Mottley said.
The Prime Minister underlined the necessity of early warning systems and verification and validation to eliminate fake news before, during, and after disasters.
Early warning systems reduce damage by 30% and save lives, according to UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed.
