Anguilla continues to benefit from assistance from the European Union, and the latest information is that the island will be among a number of British, French and Dutch Overseas Territories which will be sharing in forty million Euros for disaster and resilience recovery.
That was disclosed by Anguilla’s Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr. Victor Banks, who was among a number of Government and other officials at a European-sponsored conference, chaired by Dutch St. Maarten on October 25.
“The European Union is sponsoring a project with the Caribbean Overseas Territories – especially in light of the fact that we have been impacted by a number of disasters, and it seems as if it is going to be the rule rather than the exception,” he told The Anguillian newspaper. “Led by St. Maarten, as an Overseas Country and Territory, of the Dutch Government, St. Maarten is the Territorial Authorising Officer and asked for a summit on resilience. The event was funded by the European Union and attended by a number of Overseas Countries and Territories. We had a number of presenters from the European Union; the Director General for Development; the CEO of CDEMA; a representative from the World Bank and other agencies.
“There is a fund of forty million Euros that is being put aside for this project in which we all as territories will be able to participate. In the meantime we are putting together a strategy to build resilience in the Overseas Territories. A lot of the effort is going in the area of preparedness for hurricanes, and other disasters, that impact our small Overseas Territories as well as measures to deal with the aftermath.”
It could not be immediately said how much monetary assistance would be available to each territory including Anguilla.
