Emergency Aid to Montserrat for Volcanic Eruption Disaster

December 15, 1997

1. On December 15 (Mon.), the Government of Japan decided, at the request of the Caribbean Community: CARICOM, to extend an emergency aid equivalent to about 7,260,000 yen comprising small water tanks, electricity generators, radios and others, to Montserrat, which has sustained serious damage from a volcanic eruption.
   
   
2. On June 25, Soufriere Hills volcano, which began its current activity around July 1995, emitted the greatest amount of lava so far, causing serious damage including the death of twenty residents. It erupted again on August 4, and the southern and central parts of the island have been declared off limits. After two big explosions on October 20, large scale pyroclastic flows occurred in and after November and damage is expanding into the lower slopes. At present, there is no sign of an end to the volcanic activity, and only some 4,000 residents remain out of the approximately 11,000 who formerly lived on the island. Those who are still living in the northern part of the island are suffering hardship since the infrastructure including roads is in a bad state.
   
   
3. The Government of Japan, in response to a request from CARICOM, has decided to extend this emergency assistance from a humanitarian point of view, taking account of the scale of the disaster and the friendly relations between Japan and CARICOM.