Gov’t Prepared to Respond to Drought – Senator Samuda

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says the Government is prepared to respond to the drought conditions impacting sections of the island.

He noted the availability of more than $552 million across several ministries and agencies.

“We certainly do not hope for a protracted drought; that is not in anyone’s interest but, yes, the Government is prepared for all eventualities. That is why sound fiscal management is important, because you have allocations at the National Water Commission (NWC) in excess of $450 million, and we have allocations at the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation,” he said.

He noted, further, that more than $102 million is available through the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development for the trucking of water.

“We also have a significant contingency fund as a Government at the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service that we can pull on in times of challenges, so we are prepared to deal with it and we also continue to coordinate with other government agencies,” he said.

Senator Samuda was addressing Wednesday’s (April 10) post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister where he gave an update on drought mitigation measures.

He said that the Government is taking steps to alleviate the impact of the dry conditions on households, businesses and critical services.

“This is why earlier in March, the Prime Minister instructed that $30 million was to be sent to the NWC to assist with trucking expense in the Brown’s Town community, which has a particular challenge because of a system failure at the Minard Wells, as well as in Hanover and Westmoreland to facilitate trucking in Negril,” he said.

On Tuesday (April 9), Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, announced a $15-million allocation to facilitate the trucking of water and procurement and distribution of a limited amount of polyethylene tanks to communities that are experiencing water challenges.

He informed that 50 constituencies, mostly in rural areas, will benefit from the support, with each constituency to receive $1.5 million.

The most-impacted constituencies in Clarendon, St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland will receive an additional $2.5 million, with $5 million for the corresponding municipal corporations.

The Hanover Eastern and Western constituencies and St. Ann North West will also receive an additional $2.5 million each, with the Hanover and St. Ann municipal corporations to receive $7.5 million each.

Storage capacity at the Hermitage Dam and the Mona Reservoir are currently at 79.1 per cent and 77 per cent, respectively, and the Meteorological Service is projecting rain in approximately six to eight weeks.

Senator Samuda indicated that the drought management committee will convene weekly meetings starting this week to monitor the situation across the island.