World should be quicker to help disaster-hit islands, says Skerrit

Dominica’s prime minister has called on the international community to provide a quicker response to small island developing states which are affected by climate change.

Roosevelt Skerrit was speaking at a press conference held at the Financial Centre in Roseau earlier this week.

“Dominica signed and ratified the climate Paris Accord and we have been strong advocates of getting this agreement concluded because the international community has been kicking this proverbial can down the road at every COP summit,” he said.

“Fortunately we were able to get an agreement in Paris with the leadership of the President of China, with the leadership of the then President of the United States of America and the leadership of the then President of France and other world leaders.”

He stated that for the Paris Accord to make sense to states such as Dominica, which suffer from climate change “the mechanism for getting the resources to us to build resilience is critical.”

“We cannot subject the resources that have been pledged, the $100-billion that have been pledged to protracted bureaucratic procedures,” he stated.

Unpredictable diasters

Skerrit went on to say that disasters associated with climate change are not going to wait for “us” to put things in place.

“And I keep saying if 15 years ago, 20 years ago anybody would tell us Dominica could flood, we would just laugh at them because rain would fall for weeks, it would flow in our dry ravines, in our rivers and go to the ocean but now in many parts of Dominica, from the time it rains, we get anxious because we are fearful of flooding,” Skerrit added.

“Christmas time its supposed to be chilly and nice but we saw what happened a few years ago with the Christmas trough.”

He stated that these disasters come in all shapes, forms, and types.

“The Hurricane Irma was beyond a category five and they only have category five hurricanes,” he stated.

“The only way we can mitigate against damage and destruction and loss of life and property is by building a more resilient society.”