Hurricane harms banana workers.(THE REGION)

Caribbean Update, October, 2007

Thousands of banana workers across the Caribbean were left jobless by Hurricane Dean as governments prepared emergency funds and urged farmers to grow other crops temporarily, reports AP (Aug. 24, 2007):

"There is massive employment fallout," said Jeffrey Hall, managing director of Jamaica Producers Group. Entire plantations were ruined in Jamaica, St. Lucia and Dominica. Most of the unemployed are farmers, along with others who worked in pruning, drainage care, harvesting and packing;

About 15,000 banana workers were left jobless in Dominica after Dean devastated ...