The situation that we have seen play out at NEMO’s warehouse in Camden Park is nothing short of disgraceful. A Government-led organisation, in charge of looking out for people at their most vulnerable, has abandoned people in their hour of need.
Photos have emerged over the course of the weekend revealing that NEMO has been stockpiling mattresses in their Camden Park warehouse.
NEMO has categorically denied that they have been stockpiling, saying that it “has no interest in withholding supplies necessary for the comfort of those who have been displaced due to the eruption of the La Soufriere Volcano.”
However, with many people struggling to receive appropriate supplies, this has been called into question. We have heard reports of 80-year-olds continuing to sleep on cots and rumours that there were 21 people in a house in Camden Park who have had to sleep on the floor due to lack of mattresses. Shelters too have run out of basic equipment and even essentials like water. Delivery to shelters too has required the extra help of volunteers and many of these volunteers have had to source their own deliveries.
As part of its vision statement, NEMO was set up as “tested, comprehensive but practical Disaster Management Plan for every household, building, institution, and or organisation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
NEMO has failed on this very basic tenet and has not been able to provide help to every household impacted by the eruption, and as such there should be a thorough investigation into the failures.
There are those who believe that they have been more selective about who they provide help to based on the colour of a political T-shirt. If this allegation is true, it would represent the pinnacle of corruption from within Government. They must be here to serve vulnerable people, regardless of political persuasion.
What could be more likely however, is that NEMO lacks the planning and resources necessary to distribute where needed because the Government has not provided them with a well-thought-out plan. We know the Government has failed to provide shelters with adequate water and that many of the red zones have been hard to access because roads have been ignored for so long that they are in such poor conditions.
Whatever the reasoning, or excuses, it marks a disgraceful failure by an organisation that should be there to help and protect us at time of need. Government organisations are there to help the vulnerable and if they cannot even do this, we must ask why we should trust them.