NASSAU, Bahamas — Derek Newbold, Senior Manager of Business Development for the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), attended the Hurricane Dorian Private Sector Pledging Conference held in Nassau on Monday, January 13, 2020.
The GBPA pledge its continued commitment to rebuilding and restoring the city of Freeport and, by extension, Grand Bahama Island, in the aftermath of Category 5 hurricane Dorian that hit the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama the first week of September 2019, leaving in its wake widespread devastation estimated at $3.4 billion
The pledge conference was organized by Government of The Bahamas and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with support from the Governments of the United States and the United Kingdom.
According to assessments conducted by the Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Dorian caused an estimated $3.4 billion in damages to those two Northern Bahamian islands.
“Governments, NGOs, multilateral institutions, companies and individuals pledged $1.5 billion in recovery funding and in-kind services on Monday at the Hurricane Dorian Private Sector Pledging Conference in The Bahamas,” according to a report in CARICOM Today.
“The pledges included initiatives in homebuilding and repair; educational assistance; renewable energy partnerships; relief aid; grants; direct assistance to storm victims; parks restoration; loans and financing,” the CARICOM Today article noted.
