Less than two weeks since the passage of Hurricane Melissa and Leroy Blake, a small farmer from Whitby district in Williamsfield, Manchester, was on his farm, cleaning and clearing fallen trees and other debris from the two-acre property. He was also seeing what could be salvaged from his round leaf yam crop, which had taken a beating from the high...

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH), Charmaine Williams-Beckford, says the facility remains functional and continues to serve patients, despite sustaining severe structural damage during the passage of Hurricane Melissa on October 28. Speaking at a recent meeting of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), held at the St. James Municipal Corporation, Mrs. Williams-Beckford said the hospital has...

The European Union (EU) has mobilised €2 million in emergency funding to help families in Jamaica impacted during the passage of Hurricane Melissa rebuild, restore basic services, and recover their livelihoods. An additional €1.25 million will be allocated by the Union to support the Red Cross response in Cuba and Jamaica. The announcement was made by European Commissioner for Equality,...

Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says the official platform to mobilise support for Jamaica’s relief and recovery efforts in the aftermath of Category Five Hurricane Melissa will be modified. The modification will enable donors to better interface with the platform and donate to a specific institution or institutions. The supportjamaica.gov.jm online platform also aims to channel relief...

The Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Company is reporting that power has been restored to 55 per cent of customers. “We have been making significant progress in regard to overall restoration. [Immediately following] the passage of Hurricane Melissa, we had 23 per cent of customers in service. To date, we have 55 per cent of customers in service. That is over...

The Jamaican Liaison Service (JLS) in Canada has been actively collaborating with employers and other stakeholders to contribute to the Hurricane Melissa relief efforts. Permanent Secretary, Jamaica Central Labour Organisation, with responsibility for the Jamaica Overseas Employment Programme, Colette Roberts Risden, told JIS News that the JLS has received donations of food and other relief items. “We have specifically been...

The Jamaica Public Service (JPS) is advancing electricity restoration efforts in St. James, following widespread outages caused by the recent passage of Hurricane Melissa. Speaking during an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) meeting at the St. James Municipal Corporation in Montego Bay on Thursday (November 6), JPS’s Director of Customer Solutions, Leroy Reid, said the company is steadily re-energising critical facilities...