Damage Assessment Drive Extended

The assessment team, led by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS), has extended its hurricane damage assessment drive from Sunday, September 26 to Thursday, September 30.
“Whilst we were trying to finish on the weekend, the deadline had to be extended based on the number of cases that [the assessment officers] had to visit. and there is still 30 per cent more persons to be assessed,” Director of Social Security in the Ministry, Faith Innerarity told JIS News.
She said that to date, the Ministry has completed over 43,000 assessments, which represented approximately 70 per cent of the total damage islandwide.
Through the collaborative efforts of the Ministry, plans by the Office of National Reconstruction (ONR) and the Ministry of Finance and Planning have already been developed for the processing and delivery of benefits to the affected persons.
The Director further said that processing of the assessment forms began on September 24, with a team comprising 24 persons from the Ministry and the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ). To date, the Ministry has entered and validated over 4,000 assessment forms.
Payments, she said, would be made to the beneficiaries as soon as processing of the applications was completed, which would be done in batches.
She also revealed that the Ministry had so far spent approximately $18 million on relief supplies to assist approximately 70,000 families who had been affected by Hurricane Ivan.
“Since the occurrence of Ivan, the Ministry has been actively involved in providing relief supplies, such as food, bottled water, cleaning agents, mattresses, plastic sheeting and tarpaulin,” she said. The major groups targeted are families in shelters, the elderly and persons with disabilities.
Damage assessment will continue in all parishes. The Ministry is urging persons, who have suffered damage or losses which have not yet been reported, to visit the nearest assessment centre, or call or visit the Ministry’s parish office and make a report by the September 30 deadline.

List of Ministry Offices and Contact Numbers
Parishes Address Telephone number
Kingston & St. Andrew72 Harbour Street967- 0889
St. ThomasShop 4a- 6a Morant Bay Plaza 982-2208
Portland 3 Smatt Road993-2259
St. Mary 2 Main Street994-2314
St. Ann 4 Windsor Road972-0472
Trelawny4 King Street954-3312
St. James4 Sam Sharpe Square971-4193
HanoverMain Street 956-3218
WestmorelandBarracks Road 955-2532
St. ElizabethCourt House Compound965-2228
ManchesterLot 24 Mandeville Plaza962-2573
Clarendon6b Manchester Avenue 986-2472
St. Catherine6b Nugent Street 984- 4161