Describe september 5 and tember 6 and your country in your country. Guest antigua barbuda is a to Island Country separated by 30 miles of water. Of the got the full eye hurricane. Hurricane irma was 375 miles wide when it arrived on barbuda. Barbuda is 62 square miles, six miles smaller than washington, d. C. The huge monster of a hurricane 375 miles wide over little miles persting at 220 hour as a category five hurricane plus. It devastated everything. At the end, not a single building left standing that was structurally sound. All of them were dangerous to enter. The only reason we did not have more than one fatality is because people had listened to the governments warning and went into shelters. They were Strong Enough to sustain them. We lost one life. A small boy, a toddler in his mothers arms as she was running to the shelter. Having left her house too late. People like to remain until the last moment. Childs outked the of her hands and the next morning it was found dead. We were lucky that was our only fatality. The island is without electricity and no water. Rubble and cannot sustain human life. For the first time in over 300 years, there is not a single permanent resident on barbuda. Everybody had to be evacuated to antigua where they have been taken in by people there or in government shelters. The situation is not good. Evacuated, people 500 children schoolaged who have to be integrated into the Antigua School system, already heavily overcrowded. We have gotten a situation in antigua where we are keeping the residents of barbuda at great cost and in difficult circumstances. Host what do you need as ambassador and what are you asking the United States for . Guest we have not asked the United States for anything, not because we do not need the United States to respond, but we have made a general appeal to the World Community that clearly what happened in barbuda and and night in dominica, probably now happening in guadeloupe with hurricane maria, is an indication of Global Warming. These hurricanes have become far more fierce, stronger, much larger than in the past. Danger to thee caribbean. They are becoming so monstrously aroundecause the seas the caribbean are much hotter. That is Global Warming. As the hurricanes pick up the they becomee seas, bigger, larger, stronger. We are the victims of all of this. It is warring to us when death will reading worrying to us. It. Re the victims of we worry that we have had to evacuate every person from barbuda which suggest we are seeing societies have existing for a long time, the footprint in their country is being obliterated. There is a danger of extinction, if these hurricanes continue like they have been. I am very worried about dominica. There has been considerable damage but am not sure how much because it is just turning daylight. The assessment of the damage will take some time. In antigua today, we had much stronger winds. This morning at 7 00, sustained winds of 90 miles per hour, stronger than during irma. This indicates the power of these hurricanes and why they are a danger, and why we must worry about them. So heavilyas barbuda impacted by irma and so much less damage on antigua . Only 30 miles apart . Guest two good reasons for it. Antigua is hilly while barbuda is flat. Antigua has natural resilience to high wind but barbuda does not have that. The hurricane had nothing to stop i. T. Antigua has had hurricanes since 1987. The result is that, every time we have a hurricane, we had at one point eight hurricanes in seven years, we have had to rebuild. We have rebuilt to hire building codes. Higher standards and more resilient buildings. That was the second reason why antigua was not as badly affected as barbuda. The third reason is because the hurricane eye went directly over barbuda. Help comingis the from . Your country has historical connections to great britain. Are they helping right now . Guest no. The two countries that have been most prominent in the assistance they have given antigua are venezuela which sent in a medical team of 30 people. Military aircraft. , we would have not been able to evacuate people from barbuda when hurricane jose was threatening two days after irma. The other country is china. Moneyelivered goods and to help with the crisis. Im her sister countries in the caribbean, even and our sister countries in the caribbean, even though they have very little. Teamnited states sent a with relief supplies. They made a 100,000 donation to the red cross. That we need tens of millions of dollars. We need much more than has been delivered so far. In the case of rebuilding tobuda, looking at close 300 million to put that island back into shape so the people can return and they can live a give these in life. Decent life. Host we want to invite our viewers to call in. Ronald sanders for the next 25 minutes. Phone lines are split up regionally, eastern or central time zone, 2027488000. Mountain or pacific time zone, 2027488001. Robert in augusta, georgia. Go ahead. Air am an the goahead. On the air, go ahead. We lucked out as far as the storm. Host what is your question for ambassador sanders . Are you going to rebuild and reestablish the habitat on the island . Guest we are going to try to rebuild, but it will not be easy. I just explained that the cost of rebuilding we have lost everything, no electricity, no water, buildings are not sound structurally. We have a small airport now not operate operable. Transit has been badly damaged. We are looking at a cost of about 300 million. Our economy is 1. 2 billion economy. Therefore, our cost of 200 main dollars to 300 million is more than 20 of our National NationalGross Domestic Product and we do not have that kind of money nor can we generate it and we need help from the International Community. Ande are to rebuild barbuda put our community on our homeland. They are anxious to return and it is critical we do so. Because nowhere in the world should humanity except that an entire community with an ancient civilization should be extinguished completely. Host what are the main funds you can apply for . Do you go to the United Nations . There is a small fund called i cannot remember the providedm, they 20,000. That was it. The United Nations has some possibility for relief but not the kind of money we are talking about. We have to look at the International Financial of institutions financial institutions. We will have to hold a donor conference. And ask people to subscribe. I mean governments and big agencies. This is the only way it can be done. Here is the other problem because my country is considered a middle income country, we are not allowed to access concessional financing from the International Financial institutions. Host explain. Guest it is where you get loans , the repayment time is longer and Interest Rates are lower. We cannot do that because they say we are a middle income country. We have to borrow on commercial terms, high Interest Rates and shorterterm repayments, which we cannot afford. Our country is now highly in we spend about 80 of gross the mystic product on repaying existing debt. The reason is because of these hurricanes which come year after year. We have to borrow commercially to rebuild because we do not have access to the International Financial institutions soft windows. This is wrong and the reason is call a we have what they high per capita income. Because we are a small economy, and we do not have enough Capital Formation in our domestic economy, we have to invite for investors to come into our country, the Hotel Industry and financial services. When they come in, they pay themselves high wages. Those high wages bear no relation to what the normal person in antigua barbuda would be earning. When you take what they earn and put it into the pot and divided by the population, it seems as if the population has a high income. The example of that is if bill gates moves to antigua tomorrow and the per capita income of the entire population would go up because of the money he brings to the country. That is why it is a false criterion, a disadvantage to us and once it continues, it means our countries will always be in a disadvantageous position and not able to rebuild in the way we should. Host minnesota, michelle, good morning. Almost i think you commented on life question by yourself commented on my question by yourself. The storms are coming year after year after year, the fact is you are sitting in the middle of a notion. Wasof your islands devastated because there was nothing no mountains for protection. Evitable. Stop the and the storms the inevitable. The storms come from africa and you are in the middle of nowhere. You get hit by the brunt of it and you talk about Global Warming. The climate has been changing for millions of years and we are going through a stage. This will not stop tomorrow. I do not care if no one used carbon emissions, this would not stop tomorrow and you will suffer for many years. Got your point. Guest not sure what point she is making, if she is saying we should sit back and take it or get off the islands and go somewhere else, that is not realistic. I hope that is not what she is saying. I think she is worried about us as we are worried about ourselves. Global warming can be stopped, regardless of the position she just took. Global warming is a manmade thing. Man started it and can stop it. Clearly, even if it was to stop tomorrow, the damage already done is not reparable. Structures,uild our the infrastructure at a much higher level of resilience than before. The same thing applies to florida. Not just to care of be in. Not just to the caribbean. Unless we raise building standards to resist hurricanes at category 5, we will be knocked it down year after year. Lets do something about Global Warming and at the same time build the structures in florida and in the caribbean at much higher standards. Host the conversations about Climate Change, how are they going with the truck administration and trump administration, and what do they say to you . Guest there are a number of officials in the United States government who recognized Climate Change exists. They recognize that Global Warming exists. They are offices of the government and have to carry out the governments policy, regardless of how they feel or what they know the situation is. A great deal of sympathy from those people but they have a policy position to carry out. The present position of the president of the United States is that Climate Change is not real, a myth. It is very difficult to persuade people in florida who suffer this and people in the caribbean. We live through it. It is hardly a myth. It is a clear and present danger. All that i can say in response to your question is that there are two levels of answers, one by those who know it exists and are concerned and so pathetic. But can do nothing. And others who stick to the line that there is no such thing as Climate Change. That this is just the weather. Missouri, you are on with ambassador sanders. Guest i wont get into the Climate Change discussion. My main concern where is the money coming from to help . Countries are tied to great britain. You mentioned who is helping out the most. Venezuela and china. The moderator asks about the United States, they only gave 100,000 and some kind of medical team. I am tired of picking up your problems. Empire,ut the british the sun never sets . What about these colonies and where is the money from england coming . Guest is not antigua barbuda is not a british colony, we have been independent since 1981 and britain is dealing with its colonies in the caribbean. Concern. And his he thinks we have come to the United States and asking them to solve our problems. We have done no such thing. We have said to the International Community is that we are one planet. One humanity. We have a responsibility, each of us, to each other. Diminishes me. Th if we say that is your problem and not mine, today it may be my problem and not yours and tomorrow it may be your problem. You will expect everybody to be helpful. Host ohio, good morning. Caller thank you for taking my call. Allowe islands do they multinational companies, corporations, companies and individuals to offshore their money so they do not have to pay taxes in their own country . If that is true, you have come to the wrong people. They have robbed us by not giving us their tax dollars. You have been part of that evil deed by allowing them to do such a thing. You are going to the very countries that you have stolen the tax dollars from and you want a handout from us. , youy, if you can rob us can handle it on your own. Guest everything you said is completely not accurate. I am glad to respond. My country has a Tax InformationExchange Agreement with the United States and many other countries. Under required by law something called the common reporting standards to report every person in who is a foreigner in our country or who has a bank account, or a Multinational Corporation to the country of origin. Any United States company or person with a bank account or business in my country, we report to the irs. The irs knows who these people are. Further, on the matter of avoiding taxes, that is impossible because of the system i just told you. We have a Tax Information agreement exchange with the United States. Territorially applied, we report on United States individuals and companies with businesses in our country so the irs can tax them. We are robbing nobody. Country are your we are the irspoliceman in the caribbean. We tell them which americans and which companies are operating or have back accounts in our country. Bank accounts in our country. We have not come to the United States with our hand outstretched. We put out an International Appeal to the World Community and said the world requires for each of us to live, justice, at an economic level and a social level. We believe that humanitarianism is important. We must care about you and we expect you to care about us. If not, our planet, which we all share, is in danger. Host are there private or religious organizations that have reached out to your country in the wake of some of these images of destruction we have seen on our televisions in the United States . Guest yes, many individuals have reached out to us. From all over the world. Some wealthy people and some poor people. Who are just moved by what they have seen and want to help their we have had a number of private sector organizations trying to organize themselves to provide assistance. , with whatly happened in the rest of the caribbean, other countries are in competition with each other for international resources. As of last night, dominica was one of the First Responders to problem by givingantigua us money and now they are devastated. I have a message from the Prime Minister of the country and said i just lost my roof. He said i am standing four inches of water. I do not know what is happening in the rest of the country. I worry as i speak to you about dominica. And therelly country have been landslides and water going into the valleys. All sorts of damage will take place. People should not treat this like it is a scam attempt to extract money. We are trying to survive in a situation in which we are disadvantaged and marginalized. Host garland, texas, david, good morning. Caller thank you for taking my call. It morning, ambassador. I want to apologize for the previous callers who were probably donald trump supporters. Think you answered my first question, which would have been, are you going to give incentives to corporations to build there . With regard to the Global Warming, the people who say it is not real, i challenge them to go into the garage, close the door, turn the car on, we will see if Climate Changes in there at if there are toxic emissions. Host not something we want to advocate on television. Caller take the cars, airplanes, coal, many years it has been going on, obviously, we are changing the climate. We are harming the planet. Have themost utmost respect for you and sympathize with what you are going through. Guest i am grateful, thank you. Host tom in iowa, good morning. Television our turned down your television. Caller why not set up a Caribbean Union were all the islands contribute to a Hurricane Fund . When there are disasters, each can help through these funds. Rather than rely on international help. Guest we have such a fund. 18 or 24 people put money into a fund, it is a fund of a few people which is a critical point you would need to appreciate. We do have an Insurance Scheme to which we all contribute. Out of that, the damage that has get 6ne to barbuda, we million. Dominica will probably get the same amount of money. There is a limit to how much the Insurance Companies will ensure you for. This is a regional insurance operation. We have a caribbean disaster emergency agency, it is contributed to by all of the caribbean countries. I hope you can appreciate this point, if we are all poor and collects together, we have a fund of poor people and not adequate resources. That is why we have to look at the International Community. Even though my country is not ach, the United States has balance of trade surplus every year with my country of over 250 million. In the last 13 years, the trade surplus of the United States with my Little Island has been almost 2 billion. That 2 billion has sustained employment and manufacturing in the United States of america. It may not sound like a lot but like a lot of money to you at is twice the size of our economy. Host syracuse, new york, robert, good morning. Note, i amase take robert nash nash. We are working on new technology that is the lightest and strongest deal we have partnered on. We have backing with private backers. I will try to reach out to you. I sent out communications to robert de niro. This is going to replace the current aluminum skeleton technique to where it is a lightweight but the strongest steel and metal. We have been through our final testing and have support and backing with private foundations throughout the world. Host we want to give the ambassador our lastminute to talk about building codes. Something robert wanted to talk about. Guest building codes in the future have to be of a higher standard. We have to build more resilient structures, recognizing that Global Warming has already done damage and nothing we can do about that. We have to make sure it does not get worse, if the International Community will respond. Most of the countries of the world are on board, thing god. Through the arrangements made in paris in the last conference on Climate Change. We hope there will be movement on this. We hope the United States government and members of congress, will recognize how important an issue this is. Not just for us but for the eastern seaboard of the United States. Sea levels rise as a result of Global Warming and we will see coastal areas of the United States erode, including florida, new york, texas. This is not a caribbean problem. This is a shared problem. It is my problem and yours. The only way we will deal with this is together. Host