Wednesday, 12th January, 2005
 

Mr. Speaker:
I rise to inform this Honourable House on the decision by the Government to establish a fund to contribute to the recovery of those many hundreds of thousands of poor unfortunate persons in Asia, who were so badly affected by the devastating tidal wave, or tsunami, of this past Boxing Day, December 26th, 2004.

The Fund, Mr. Speaker, is to be established at the Royal Bank of Canada, with a grant in aid from The Bahamas Government – on behalf of the Bahamian people – in the amount of $150,000.  This gift represents the goodwill of this nation towards the nations and peoples of those areas affected by the tidal wave and will further cement the proper place of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas among those upstanding, caring and responsive members of the International Community.

This donation, Mr. Speaker, is only intended to establish the Fund, and the Government also sincerely invites businesses and individuals in The Bahamas to contribute freely to this worthy effort.

It must be remembered, Mr. Speaker, that it was in fact only just a few short months ago, when this nation was the grateful recipient of monetary expressions of support from many countries around the world during our time of distress brought on by successive hurricanes and their widespread damage and destruction.

It may interest Members of this Honourable House, Mr. Speaker, to know that similarly, our brother nations in the Caribbean have also opened their hearts and their treasuries to these Asian countries.  Jamaica has announced a donation of $250,000 US; Trinidad and Tobago, two million dollars US and Guyana $50,000 US and the list of donors from our region continues to grow.

This fact is even more evidence Mr. Speaker, of the global nature of the world today.  More and more, people anywhere in the world are interconnected in our futures and when tragedy of this magnitude strikes, we are all well advised to remember that it may be you today and me tomorrow.

In this connection, Mr. Speaker, my colleague the Minister of Foreign Affairs, has already joined Foreign Ministers of the Caribbean Community in starting the process for a system of early warning of natural disasters in the region.  The plan also includes provision for extensive public education.

Despite our preparations, I should take this opportunity to reassure Bahamians that all the evidence is, however, that while the Caribbean is a volcanic region the probability of such an event like the one in Asia happening is not high.

A little known fact, Mr. Speaker, is that this country has a special connection to the people of one of the nations badly affected by the tidal waves.  This is so in that I am advised that the vast majority of official drivers working for Bahamas embassies, consulates and high commissions abroad are from the nation of Sri Lanka.  Indeed, one of our drivers, lost family members in the tidal wave.  In addition to expressing our condolences as a nation to the affected countries, we have also expressed direct condolences to the individual in question and a fund has been started at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide financial assistance to him.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I again encourage Bahamians to contribute to the national Fund for assistance to the Asian nations affected by the tidal wave, by depositing their donations, beginning on Monday January 16th to National Tsunami Relief Fund Account at any branch of the Royal Bank of Canada.