“USNS Comfort”
CASTRIES, St. Lucia--Prime Minister Allen Chastanet expressed gratitude on behalf of the government and people of St. Lucia on Tuesday, for the visit here of the US Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort.
“I want to immensely thank the team from the USNS Comfort and the US government for the valuable services provided gratis to the thousands of St. Lucians who have benefited from this humanitarian mission,” Chastanet wrote on his official Facebook page.
St. Lucians took advantage en masse of the services offered by the Americans, despite what a US official described as information implying negative ulterior motives.
Social media posts had suggested that the hospital ship’s medical staff would use locals as guinea pigs for experiments.
But both local and US officials had dismissed the negative social media campaign.
St. Lucia was one of 12 countries being visited by the USNS Comfort during its five-month deployment.
The ship was scheduled to depart here Wednesday after arriving on September 25. ~ St. Lucia Times ~
