Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, says that each Member of Parliament (MP) will be allocated $1.5 million from the Housing Fund to assist with repairs to houses that were significantly damaged by the heavy rains.
In addition, each constituency will receive $1.5 million from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security for rehabilitation grants for the neediest cases that are brought to the attention of the MP.
“This is the start, and as we go through and we decide on reallocations, we may be able to do more. This is so that MPs are not flatfooted in the face of requests [for assistance],” the Prime Minister said in a statement to Parliament on Tuesday.
He noted that the funds allocated are part of the resources for the normal cyclical maintenance and mitigation work programme for public infrastructure across the island.
“We do not have unlimited resources and, therefore, we will have to use the cyclical mitigation programme and augment it with reallocations that we have had to decide upon to address the fallout as a result of the rainfall,” Holness said.
CVM LIVE understands that close to $2 billion will be spent under this programme to address the repair and rehabilitation works to be undertaken across the island as a result of the flood damage.
