Tropical storm Zeta caused 2 billion dollar damage to Jamaica: Prime Minister

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, concluded that the destruction caused by the heavy downpours over the past few days in Jamaica is over two billion dollars and announced that the funds would have to be reallocated for allotting with the devastation created by Tropical Storm Zeta.

He stated that now every ministry, each minister, each permanent secretary is working through their budget, to understand what can be reallocated, and the Ministry of Finance would manage this.

Holness figured that the two billion dollars would only include what is required, for example, to free the roadways or the canyon which have been made impenetrable and to begin to clear of sewers and ditches. He continued that there is a notable disservice to local streets with around 60 per cent impacted.

The evaluation was initiated by the National Works Agency (NWA).

Furthermore, Prime Minister announced the legislators that based on the amount of the cost and destruction and that all the needed products could not be done instantly.

He announced that the government was recommending a memorandum of targeted interferences with a preference ranking and continued that the object is to unblock barred roads quickly, patch main streets and clean profoundly silted sewers.

He stated the cyclical mitigation programme, which corresponds with the Christmas time typically and covers sewer/drainage cleansing and de-bushing as well as the patching of roads in all 63 constituencies, would commence shortly and would lead into the Christmas period.

The Prime Minister appended that the budget would distribute one billion dollars to inscribe damage due to rains instantly, and this would be used immediately by the NWA according to areas of crucial importance and greatest national need to the richness of the economy.

Holness stated that an allocation of $1.5 million from the Housing Fund would be made to each Member of Parliament for supporting with improvements to houses of components destroyed because of Zeta.