Barbados Prime Minister Announces Rescue Plan for Fishing Industry After Hurricane Damage

To address these coastal challenges, the government’s “coherent approach” will cover the entire coastline from St Lucy in the north to the Bridgetown Port in the southwest. This strategy will involve a new executing unit dedicated to beach maintenance and coastal protection.

“We believe that in the same way we have a unit to come to work every day to take care of the roads in MTW, we must have a unit that comes to work every day to take care of the beaches,” Mottley explained.

“The Coastal Zone Management Unit that has been in existence for over 40 years, is fundamentally about engineering advice and regulatory role. But we need an executing unit now that allows us to take care of these beaches on an ongoing basis, and to work with the requisite professional services that would allow us to have the advice as to how and where you nourish beaches, where you have to put sea walls, where you have groynes, [and] where you have offshore underwater breakwater.”

Coastal engineers have reported that Hurricane Beryl was more severe than a one-in-a-hundred-year event, with storm surges displacing five-tonne concrete blocks “as if they were balls”, said Mottley. The coastal engineers’ assessment that future structures may require concrete blocks weighing at least 15 tonnes, up from the current five tonnes, underscores the scale of adaptation required.

The Bridgetown Port’s breakwater also suffered considerable damage, leading to the sinking of two party boats. Mottley indicated that planned improvements to the breakwater would now need to be brought forward.

“Those waves made that breakwater look like child’s play and it led to the sinking of the Jolly Roger and the Dream Chaser,” she said.

The PM also addressed the damage to the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex, emphasising the need for more robust coastal defences in light of the changing climate.

The government has already instructed repairs to begin on the public and private jetties at Oistins, Christ Church.

The tourism industry has been significantly affected, with 73 per cent of hotels, apartments and guest houses reporting some level of damage, according to the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association. However, damage to the pleasure cruise sector has been limited.

In agriculture, 35 acres of banana farms were lost, though the sector was mostly unscathed, and Mottley said the Ministry of Agriculture is addressing the situation.

The housing sector reported minimal damage, with Ministry of Housing assessments underway to support affected residents.

Despite the extensive damage, the prime minister expressed gratitude that no lives were lost during the hurricane.

“The fact, however, that we have saved lives and that there is no one who has died in Barbados as a result of Hurricane Beryl, is a matter for which we will give thanks,” Mottley said.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb