St Vincent and the Grenadines: Volcanoes

(asked on 14th April 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) financial, (b) logistical and (c) military support the Government is providing to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in response to the recent volcanic eruptions in that nation.


Answered by
Nigel Adams Portrait
Nigel Adams
This question was answered on 19th April 2021

We are monitoring the situation in St Vincent and the Grenadines closely and our thoughts are with those affected by the eruptions. Infrastructure and agriculture have been badly hit and ash fall is significant and causing problems with the movement of people, as well as impacting electricity and water supplies.

  • To address immediate needs, on 12 April we pledged an initial £200,000 to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) to help address the humanitarian impact of the eruptions. This will be used for emergency supplies and other requirements. The UK is also a contributor to the International Federation of the Red Cross Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) which has allocated funding of some £209,000 to the St Vincent and the Grenadines Red Cross response.
  • Prior to the latest explosive eruptions we had deployed a volcanologist to the islands to monitor La Soufrière during its earlier effusive eruption. In addition the UK provided £51,000 to pay for aerial helicopter surveillance and equipment installations to help analyse changes in the volcano and boost early warning to allow for a timely evacuation. Our support to CDEMA will also allow urgently needed technical experts to support relief efforts on the ground, support emergency telecommunications, and restore critical lifeline facilities. In addition, we have provided technical advice from the UK Government Office of Science (GO Science) and the British Geological Survey on how to deal with the significant ash fall (including on its impact on livestock).
  • The Ministry of Defence have not yet received any requests to provide military assistance.

We will continue to work with CDEMA and other appropriate agencies to provide further support.

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