Local Government to Assist Families Displaced by Floods

20 Million Dollars Emergency Fund to assist with road clearing & Social Security; The Ministry of Local Government and Community Development says care packages will be provided to residents displaced by the recent flood rains. The Ministry says work is underway to clear blocked roads, restore marooned communities as well as to repair broken pipes caused by the onslaught of tropical storm Zeta. An island-wide assessment of the damage is currently being done in our cabinet to approve the amount needed to address the situation. It is estimated that it will cost the country at least one billion dollars.

Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond Mckenzie says twenty (20) million dollars in emergency funding have already been earmarked to clear roads and provide assistance to families.

 Prime Minister Andrew Holness says the cabinet is reviewing the damage and a team is expected to tour the country to observe the aftermath of tropical storm Zeta.

One of the hardest hit constituencies is East Rural St. Andrew. In passion gardens, shooters hill, two people lost their lives, a father and a daughter, when a landslide covered their house, trapping them inside for hours. 

But the Local Government and Community Development Minister Says based on the assessment; the ministry is examining the relocation of people from this area rather than the rehabilitation.

Citizens were advised to evacuate the area on Sunday and find shelter at the St. Benedict’s Primary School after the 9 miles bridge broke. But when CVM Live asked whether citizens had sought refuge in the shelter, we were told that no-one came.

Instead, residents have resorted to a sandbagging technique, climate change adaptation measure they say they learnt from the USAID Comet-Ii Project.