Last Updated on October 31, 2020, 6:12 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Prime Minister Andrew Holness, estimated that the damage caused by the heavy rains over the past few days in Jamaica is over two billion dollars and said that the funds would have to be reallocated for dealing with the damage caused by Tropical Storm Zeta.
He said that now each ministry, each minister, each permanent secretary is going through their budget, to see what can be reallocated, and the Ministry of Finance would supervise this.
The Prime Minister also warned that the two billion dollar estimate could “rise significantly”.
Holness added that the two billion dollars would only cover what is needed, for example, to clear the roadways or the gorge which have been made impassable and to undertake to clear of drains and gullies. He added that there is significant damage to parochial roads with around 60 per cent affected.
The assessment was undertaken by the National Works Agency (NWA).
The Prime Minister told the legislators that based on the extent of the cost and damage and that all the required works could not be done immediately.
He said that the government was proposing a programme of targeted interventions with a priority ranking and added that the aim is to clear blocked roads immediately, patch main thoroughfares and clean heavily silted drains.
He said the cyclical mitigation programme, which coincides with the Christmas period usually and covers drain cleaning and de-bushing as well as the patching of roads in all 63 constituencies, would begin shortly and would lead into the Christmas period.
The Prime Minister added that the budget would expend one billion dollars to address damage due to rains directly, and this would be used directly by the NWA according to areas of strategic importance and greatest national need to the productivity of the economy.
Holness said that an allocation of J$1.5 million from the Housing Fund would be made to each Member of Parliament for assisting with repairs to houses of constituents damaged because of Zeta.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
