Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley has appointed West Indies legendary batsman Brian Lara as a special envoy.
He served as an ambassador under the former People’s Partnership government.
And his first assignment was to meet with Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit to discuss how Trinidad and Tobago may further assist its CARICOM neighbor in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Erika, which devastated the island on Aug. 24, killing more than 20 persons, leaving hundreds homeless and more than EC$600 million in damages.
Lara spent a few days on island last week looking at the devastation and how the T&T government could assist in the rehabilitation of the island.
Prime Minister Skerrit said, “Clearly this is a huge decision on the part of Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley. With all the challenges he has in Trinidad, being a new government, having to settle the new Cabinet, having to appoint boards… that he has decided that Dominica is one of his priorities and that alone for us is a huge gesture on his party.”
Skerrit told reporters sending Lara to Dominica underscored Port of Spain’s desire to assist his island “and we are really appreciative of the visit itself.”
Lara said he had arrived with a message from Dr. Rowley indicating “we are family and when one family suffers, the other one does and we are here to help.”
