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Mayor of the city of Toronto, David Miller, has called on the two million residents of Toronto to support the relief effort for victims of Hurricane Ivan in the Caribbean. "Thousands of Torontonians, including City of Toronto staff, have families in the affected areas," said the Mayor at a press conference held at Toronto City Hall recently. "Many have come...

Members of staff of the Union Bank in South Florida have donated over US$3000 in cash and supplies to hurricane victims in Jamaica. The presentation was made to Consul General, Ricardo Allicock at his office in Miami recently. The donation comprises a cheque for $2,500 towards the Consulate's Hurricane Relief Fund, food items and supplies for babies. Assistant Vice President...

The St. Ann Health Department will be embarking on a vector control drive to contain the increase in the mosquito population in the parish as a result of Hurricane Ivan. In an interview with JIS News, Public Health Inspector in charge of Vector Control in St. Ann, Mark Miller, informed that vector control teams would be dispatched throughout the parish...

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture has reported that only about 3 per cent of the island's approximately 1,000 public schools still remain closed, with the other 97 per cent operating at some level. Dorrett Campbell, Communications Director in the Ministry, told JIS News that the schools, which remained unopened, were either being used as temporary shelters or had...

Damage done to the agricultural sector in St. Mary by Hurricane Ivan has been estimated at $700,000,000.00 by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA). Acting RADA Parish Manager for St. Mary, Crawford Clarke told JIS News that the estimate was a reflection of the extensive damage done to the industry in all four extension areas of the parish.He pointed out...

The Clarendon Health Department will be instituting a schedule of mobile clinics to serve communities where health centres are inoperable. Some 22 health facilities in the parish remain closed after the passage of Hurricane Ivan. The mobile team, which will consist of a Public Health Inspector, Public Health Nurse, a District Medical Officer or Family Nurse Practitioner, and a Health...

Several remittance companies are playing their part in helping victims of Hurricane Ivan in Jamaica. Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS), Jamaica National (JN), Senvia Money Services and Western Union have either significantly reduced their fees or cancelled them outright for money transfers from Canada to Jamaica. General Manager at VMBS (Overseas), Michael Steele told JIS News that the company has...

The St. James Health Department is carrying out regular health checks on food establishments and food storage facilities in the parish to ensure that all meat was of a high quality and fit for human consumption. Over the last few days, public health inspectors have visited a number of facilities and have condemned large portions of meats that were found...

The total number of blocked roads reported to the National Works Agency (NWA), since the onslaught of Hurricane Ivan has jumped to more than 1,000. "Up to yesterday (September 22), we have received 1,033 reports of roads being blocked. Of that number, we have cleared 768, which is well over 70 per cent," Communications and Customer Relations Manager, Vando Palmer...

The Office of National Reconstruction (ONR) has engaged the services of accounting and auditing firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers. Tracey Hamilton, Communications Liaison at the ONR told JIS News today that the prominent auditing firm was selected as "treasurer", to ensure the transparency of the funds allocated to the agency for the purpose of relief and reconstruction, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan....

Prime Minister P.J. Patterson has stated that disaster preparedness should take centre stage in the Caribbean given the fact that natural disasters are a reality for which the region must be prepared. He said a regional response apparatus to include the strengthening of the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) would have to be developed, adding that each country...

Jamaica's Consul General to New York, Dr. Basil K. Bryan met in an emergency session with representatives of various Jamaican organizations and community leaders to provide information and to devise strategies for the several efforts now in place in New York City to assist Jamaica in the relief and reconstruction work to return the country to normality following the passage...