Grenada Government Boosts Coast Guard Capacity To Patrol The Country’s Nothern Border

The Government of Grenada has deployed additional resources to  the sister islands to strengthen border control, in the face of a growing number of COVID 19 cases in neighbouring St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

A second Coast Guard vessel has been deployed to patrol the area between Carriacou  and Petite Martinique and additional persons, particularly wardens, have also been put  on the ground on both sister islands.

Explaining the need for the new measures, Minister of Health, Honourable Nickolas  Steele said, “The reality is that we are one Caribbean people; in particular, Grenada and  St. Vincent and the Grenadines and even more so, Carriacou and Petite Martinique and  the southern Grenadine islands interact as one people. We are proud of this, but in this  instance, where unfortunately we see our brothers and sisters in St. Vincent and the  Grenadines being tried and tested by COVID-19, we have to take additional measures to  control our borders and protect our people.”

In addition to the extra resources deployed, the Ministry of Health is also engaged in  widespread testing and significant sensitisation of the population through public service  announcements and direct interaction with residents.

Minister Steele said, “There are individuals who earn an income from the interaction  between the islands, and based on all the reports received, there is general compliance  with the established protocols, in recognition of the risks that exist. We ask the residents  of Carriacou and Petite Martinique to continue to cooperate. To those travelling back and  forth, we urge you to understand the need for full compliance.”

The Minister empathised with persons who are adversely affected by the new measures,  but said increased vigilance is important at this time. He said, “We are well aware that in  taking some of these measures, the curfew and the added restrictions on our borders, it  is causing financial hardship to some individuals. Our desire is to get past this as quickly  as possible, to ensure that this pandemic does not get worse. As such, we are also  aggressively pursuing the procurement of vaccines and we will be dealing with the rollout  of a vaccination programme.”

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