PRESIDENT of the Senate Tom Tavares-Finson says the government must do everything it possibly can to assist the people of Haiti following last week’s passage of Hurricane Matthew.

Speaking in the Senate on Friday, Tavares-Finson urged members to take note of the destruction suffered by the regional – including Haiti, the Bahamas and Cuba – from the passage of the hurricane, and especially the human suffering Haiti is still undergoing.

“I don’t think that we are quite aware of the extent of the damage. I know that the Government must do everything possible to assist,” he said.

He urged Jamaicans to assist in cash and kind, and asked members of the Senate to participate “to the best of your ability, and encourage others to do so”.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Kamina Johnson Smith said that Hurricane Matthew would go down as “one of the fiercest and most destructive hurricanes that have passed through the region in recent times”.

She said that, while communications with Haiti has been “spotty’ since the hit, and direct contact difficult, the government has been in touch with the authorities in The Bahamas and Cuba.

“Both countries are going through the process of their disaster assessment, and the ambassador of Cuba assures me that there is no official report of deaths and they are giving thanks for that,” she said.

She said that there has been “terrible infrastructural damage” in Cuba and loss of property there has been extensive.

She said that The Bahamas has suffered from flood and loss of property, but no major infrastructural damage, as their assessment continues.

She urged Jamaicans to support the local efforts to assist the affected islands through Help Haiti and other initiatives through which people can make donations to the effort via the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.

“I encourage you to think about the families, think about the children, think about what it would be like if it were us,” she told the Senate.

Leader of Opposition Business Senator Mark Golding asked that the country also include St Vincent and the Grenadines among those which have suffered from the passage of the hurricane.

He said that the importance of regional assistance after disasters have occurred in the region has been reinforced by Hurricane Matthew, which has highlighted the need for increased co-operation and co-ordination in meeting the challenges of these disasters.