Jamaica announces up to $400k financial support for families impacted by Beryl

Jamaica: In a significant development, the Government of Jamaica has announced financial support to affected persons to aid in the recovery and rebuilding efforts. This announcement comes as an estimated 8700 houses across the country was damaged by Category 5 Hurricane Beryl.

The Minister of Labour Pearnel Charles Jr, on Tuesday, announced that families whose houses have been destroyed would be getting a grant of up to $400,000 while those whose homes have been severely damage will be getting up to $150,000 and the individuals who experienced minor damages will receive up to $50,000.

The statement was given by the Minister recently during a session during which he also said that the Government is exploring electronic payments and cash cards to expedite the grants and improve service delivery.

The Ministry of Labour will be giving 500 micro business operators a grant of $100,000 each who lost their livelihoods. This payment will be provided under the Government’s rehabilitation grants programme.

Not only this, but also the government has allocated $30 million to 200 students at the tertiary level. These students have been identified from households which been severely affected by the Category 4 hurricane and each of them will be $150,000 each.

Meanwhile, the Finance Minster Dr Nigel Clarke has also given the assurance that the government would treat as the topmost priority the reconstruction as well as restoration of hospitals and schools.

In addition to this, there have been several concerns from the school administrators, who are calling for emergency repairs to institutions which have been impacted by the hurricane to reopen them in September for the new session.

During the parliamentary session, Clarke also said that $5 billion has been allocated to address the relief and recovery efforts. The Minister noted that while $10.9 billion is available as part of the Disaster Relief Fund, the Government will be retaining $5.9 billion in the event the nation is impacted by another disaster. 

He mentioned that the principle is to leave something back because it is not certain how things are going to unfold in future.