More than 1,276 tonnes of food and water and 638 tonnes of construction material have been transported to hurricane-ravaged Grenada by the T&T Defence Force.
By Sherry-Ann SinghScores of local cooks, medics, electricians, carpenters/shipwrights, masons, plumbers, welders, drivers, communication specialists and military engineers are also trying to restore normality to the island, as part of the Joint Support Group (JSG), the name given to the Defence Force unit deployed in Grenada.
The Defence Force?s 150-plus officers have been acting primarily as a ?force multiplier? to the Royal Grenada Police Force, concentrating its efforts on maintaining law and order and distributing relief supplies to the mainly rural districts, Lt-Col A Phillips-Spencer said yesterday.He was addressing a news conference at Defence Force headquarters, Chaguaramas, called to give an update on relief efforts for Grenada, which was devastated by Hurricane Ivan last week.
?The Grenadians have begun to stand up and help themselves. We?re just here to help them,? he declared.
Defence Force troops have been playing a key role in providing security and providing relief services, especially in areas outside the capital of St George?s.
They have been authorised to spend up to a month in Grenada, in the first instance, under the command of Col George Robinson of the regiment.
Troops have been burying carcasses to help avert a health crisis.
Key officials of Wasa, T&TEC and TSTT are in Grenada assisting in the restoration of essential services.
The Defence Force is also supporting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in bringing home nationals in Grenada and enabling communication between citizens of T&T and their relatives and other national interests on the island.
Spencer said the Joint Support Group could not corroborate reports that vessels transporting relief supplies were being pirated.
?We have conducted independent investigations and have not found information to support that... Our vessels have travelled safely,? he said.
Chief of Defence Staff Brig Ancil Antoine added that small aircraft and helicopters had begun patrols of the waters between T&T, Grenada and Barbados, extending as far as St Vincent.
He said the reception given to T&T soldiers had been mixed.
?Hostility, of course, would come from people looting and some of the prisoners, but not from the wider population,? Antoine said.
