£60 Million Aid Package for Caribbean

United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. David Cameron has announced a £60 million aid package for Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean.

He made the disclosure as he addressed a joint sitting of Parliament this morning (September 30).

The £60 million is in addition to the £300 million grant fund, announced by Mr. Cameron on Tuesday (September 29), after bilateral talks with Prime Minster, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, at Jamaica House.

Mr. Cameron explained that of the £60 million in aid,  £30 million will be set aside for new programmes to attract investment and improve governance, while £30 million will go towards making the region’s health facilities more resilient to natural disasters.

“We need to make sure that if a hurricane strikes, crucial health centres can remain operational to treat the wounded,” Mr. Cameron said.

He noted that the total £360 million investment package to the region represents more than a quadrupling of Britain’s support.

“It will make us the largest donor to the region. It will create jobs and save lives and you can take it, literally, as a concrete statement of my commitment to the Caribbean,” the UK Prime Minister told Parliament.

He stressed that the £300 million in grant funding is “not soft loans.”

“(It is) not tied aid. It is cash grants. It is up to you in this room and in the region to decide how best to spend it on the things that your country needs most. I’m confident that this support will make a decisive difference to the economic future of this region,” he stated.

The £300 million in grant funding will provide for infrastructure projects, such as roads and bridges, in order to enhance trade.