'Government help for flood victims' – Jamaica PM

Around 5,000 people in Clarendon hit by torrential rains last month

Tuesday, 9th May 2017

PM Andrew Holness, second right, meeting with flooded residents.

Jamaica’s Prime Minister has assured flood-affected residents of communities in Central Clarendon that his government will help with their recovery.

He gave this assurance during a visit to the constituency.

At the end of last month a number of areas were damaged by flash floods, with one government minister blaming the previous administration – something that the People’s National Party firmly refuted. This led to a fierce debate online about perceived political game-playing by some officials.

While Holness did refer to former governments in his response, he identified other factors and has now moved to the rebuilding effort.

Speaking to JIS News, the prime minister said that his administration has commenced disaster assessments and evaluations of the resulting damage and dislocation to determine the extent of response to be provided.

Holness also gave a personal undertaking to assist the children of the affected families with school supplies, among other provisions, while expressing concern about the extent to which their lives may have been disrupted.

“I am always very concerned about the impact weather events will have on children and their attendance at school. So I always want to find out how students are recovering,” he said.

Today it also emerged that Transport and Mining Minister Mike Henry had established a bank account to help the affected students.

The Clarendon Municipal Corporation estimates that approximately 5,000 residents were affected by the torrential flood rains which lashed the parish over two days.