ST. GEORGE, Grenada (CMC) — The Grenada government on Friday apologized and retracted a statement it had made that its citizens wanting to work in the Cayman Islands would be able to travel there on July 16 accompanied by the British Prime Minister, Juliana O’Connor-Connolly.
“In a show of solidarity with the Government and people of Grenada, the Prime Minister is inviting Grenadians seeking employment in the Cayman Islands to return to the country on Tuesday, July 16, 2024,” the Government Information Service (GIS) reported on Thursday.
“Applicants should submit a resume highlighting the job areas that interest them most along with the following information via email (grenadagis@gmail.com),” it read.
“Applicants must hold a valid passport, be 18 years of age or older and be ready to travel by Tuesday 16 July 2024,” GIS said, adding that the deadline for receiving applications is Sunday 14 July 2024.
However, in a statement on Friday, the Grenada Prime Minister’s Office apologized to the Cayman Islands Prime Minister’s Office and denied and retracted the GIS press release.
The paper said “no such offer was made” when O’Connor-Connolly paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, adding that “the prime minister expressed solidarity with the Grenadian people over the damage caused to Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique and offered relief assistance to Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
The statement said the prime minister and his delegation would visit both Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to deliver relief supplies.
“I am deeply and sincerely grateful to the Prime Minister, his Government and the people of the Cayman Islands for the material support and solidarity shown to us at this difficult time,” Mitchell was quoted as saying in a statement.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada on Thursday called on the international community to provide little to no aid as the two countries continue to work to rebuild after the Category 4 storm that killed several people and caused millions of dollars in damage.
Hurricane Beryl, which sped through the Caribbean Sea on 1 July, became the fastest Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic this season. It struck Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines as a Category 4 hurricane, causing deaths, extensive damage and destruction to homes and infrastructure, and large-scale loss of services and livelihoods.
Both Mitchell and his counterpart, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, acknowledged that millions of dollars will be needed to help their countries recover from the storm.
The UN plan aims to address the immediate needs of around 24,000 people in Grenada and 19,000 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and is based on provisional estimates and funding forecasts that will be reassessed in the short term.
Officials say exact figures remain difficult to come by as assessments are ongoing amid damage to logistics, power and communication services and continued blackouts.
The goal is to raise at least $9 million, of which $5 million will go to Grenada and the rest to St. Vincent and the Grenadines to help approximately 43,000 people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
