Approximately 215,000 buildings sustained varying levels of damage from the passage of Hurricane Melissa, says Director General, Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Commander Alvin Gayle. “Across the island, some 1.6 million buildings have been assessed by GeoAI. Of that number, we have now assessed 215,000 to have some level of damage. It is estimated that 156,000 of...

The Ministry of Local Government and Community Development has identified lands owned by the Trelawny Municipal Corporation for the construction of a new administrative building, following the devastation of the existing structure during Hurricane Melissa. “They are now to proceed to start to do the necessary works in terms of the new location,” said Portfolio Minister, Hon. Desmond McKenzie. He...

Mayor of Black River and Chairman of the St. Elizabeth Municipal Corporation, Councillor Richard Solomon, says that restoring access to communities and essential services is being prioritised as relief and recovery efforts continue across the parish. “Some of the activities that we would have been doing up to now is to ensure that we have access to all our major...

The Jamaica Red Cross St. James Branch is appealing for volunteers to support ongoing relief efforts in the parish, as communities continue to recover from hurricane melissa. The plea comes from Emergency Chairperson for the Jamaica Red Cross St. James Branch, Colleen Lawson-Taylor, who was addressing a meeting of the Emergency Operations Centre, held at the St. James Municipal Corporation...

The Digicel Foundation has donated a 1,000-gallon water tank to the Catherine Hall Primary School in St. James. The storage tank will strengthen the school’s resilience, ensuring that students can safely return to classes. It replaces the previous tank, which blew away during Hurricane Melissa, said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Digicel Foundation, Charmaine Daniels. She was speaking to...

The Social Development Commission (SDC) has launched a Temporary Accommodations Needs Assessment Survey across the six parishes severely affected by the passage of Hurricane Melissa. The survey, commissioned by the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development has three primary objectives – to provide an evidence-based report on the number of displaced families and individuals, to determine how many of...

More than 70,000 care packages have been distributed across St. James since the passage of Hurricane Melissa, as Government and relief partners intensify support to affected residents. Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Richard Vernon, provided the update while addressing the ongoing humanitarian response across the parish. He was speaking to journalists after a follow-up meeting of the Emergency Operations Centre...