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Island digs out of volcano's ash

Residents of Montserrat won't give in to an active volcano that buried half of the tiny island in ash. As it rumbles, they rebuild.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 18, 2006

LITTLE BAY, Montserrat - It was called Operation Exodus - a plan to abandon this British Caribbean island en masse in case the erupting Soufriere Hills volcano made life unlivable.

The volcano came alive in 1995, and over the next two years buried the capital, the airport and the most fertile soil. Nineteen people died. More than half the population of 12,000 left, mostly for Britain, whose government bought them homes.

But today Operation Exodus is gathering dust - or perhaps in Montserrat's case, volcanic ash - as the mountainous, teardrop-shaped island goes on a building binge: a new airport and a 700-seat concert hall, with a new Parliament, courthouse and cricket field planned.

Even though the 3,000-foot volcano cut the Buffalo, N.Y.-sized island virtually in half, it has failed to shake the die-hards loose from their speck of British empire. In fact it has helped them gain a renewed sense of self - a proud determination to hang on even though Soufriere Hills still coughs up ash and bursts its lava cap every few months.

"I just love the island," said former Chief Minister John A. Osborne. "I'm not going anyplace. I'm comfortable. I don't have any crime here so I feel free. ... I don't want to go anyplace where I have to look over my shoulder."

Recovery has been slow. Forty-eight people made homeless a decade ago are still in evacuation shelters, and only last month did construction of their new homes begin. Lawmakers meet at the Vue Pointe Hotel. The southern half of the island is off-limits after dark.

But a new city center is planned for Little Bay, the future capital, in northwest Montserrat, where tree-covered hills tumble to the beach. For now, the Royal Montserrat Police Force in Little Bay handles what little crime there is out of rundown trailer.

"It's a challenge. We're trying to rebuild a country from scratch," Osborne said. "We've lost our city. We've lost the commercial areas of Montserrat. And we've lost our best agricultural land."

Little Bay and surrounding hamlets with names like Salem and Old Towne give Montserrat a small-town feel. People drive on the left, like the British; watch American shows on cable TV; celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's birthday with a cocktail party at Government House; and listen to reggae music. In the emerald hills lurks the "mountain chicken," a delicacy that is actually a frog.

Until the airport opened, ferries from Antigua were the only way to Montserrat. Tourism, 30,000 visitors a year before the eruption, is down to about 1,300. The recording studio built by George Martin, the Beatles' musical producer, was ripped apart by Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

Martin funded construction of Montserrat's new cultural center by selling 500 limited edition lithographs, signed by himself and Paul McCartney, of his score for the Beatles song Yesterday.

"It's a special place and it's the least I could do," Martin wrote in an e-mail.

The volcano is little more than an occasional nuisance outside the no-go zone. Most of the year, winds blow the ash out to the Caribbean. But during April and May, trade winds blow fine particles onto hillsides in the north. A British government study said they pose little health risk.

Sue Loughlin, director of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, said scientists don't know when the volcano will stop erupting but that it is "extremely unlikely" it would ever pose enough danger for Operation Exodus to be activated.

Ernestine Cassell, the island's director of tourism, is busy promoting "volcano tourism," offering the rare opportunity to see a live volcano from a safe distance.

"I want to reassure people that Montserrat has not been blown to smithereens and we're not sitting on the beaches waiting for the next passing ship to get a ride off," Cassell said. "Life goes on as normal."

[Last modified June 18, 2006, 06:01:35]