Schools have been handed the biggest slice of the Government’s Hurricane Melissa recovery money to date, with $25 billion allocated to the Education Ministry for repairs.
But less than half of it has been spent so far.
The Government has given a breakdown of the over $84 billion it has spent so far to address post-Hurricane Melissa recovery.
Chevon Campbell tells us more.
Of the $25 billion allocated to education, $11 billion have been spent to date.
The allocation includes $1 million for over 600 schools identified as needing recovery funding for cleanup operations immediately after the hurricane.
The education money is part of the more than 84-billion dollars the Government says it has spent on relief and recovery since the Category 5 Melissa.
It’s a figure Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness disclosed at a Jamaica House briefing on Tuesday, October 27.
Electricity restoration is the second big ticket item. The Government $24.1-billion has been spent to returned power faster than projected.
This includes a US$150 million loan to the Jamaica Public Service Company.
This is followed by housing, with the National Housing Trust putting $13.3-billion towards recovery.
The Labour Ministry received $11.2 billion, $10 billion of which went to grants for households under the Restoration of Owner or Occupant Family Shelters, ROOFS, programme.
A further $10 billion has been committed to ROOFS.
The National Works Agency received five billion dollars for emergency work, $4.6 billion went to the National Solid Waste Management Authority for clean-up, while another $3.25 billion went towards restoring water systems.
Agriculture, tourism and small business recovery each got $3 billion.
The Health Ministry and the Port Authority each received $2.3 billion, the Energy and Transport Ministry $1.5-billion and the Office of Disaster Preparedness & Emergency Management, $1billion.
Smaller allocations include $155 million in cash transfers to PATH beneficiaries and $150 million to the Urban Development Commission to help restore attractions including Dunn’s River.
Another $32 million went to children with disabilities affected by the hurricane.
But the numbers come after a year of sustained criticism over how fast government assistance is reaching those who need it.
Last week, entertainer Beenie Man added his voice, telling Britain’s ITV News that the people who are supposed to benefit have not been getting the money.
Prime Minister Holness has rejected that claim as untruthful and misleading, noting that donations make up less than two percent of what the Government has committed and spent.
Speaking at the reopening of the Black River Hospital in St. Elizabeth last Wednesday, the Prime Minister conceded that the response has not been perfect.
But he says it it should be measured against other countries, not perfection.
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