The ‘Building a Better Jamaica Fund’, which has been established to support the country’s Hurricane Beryl relief efforts, was officially launched on Monday (July 8) at Jamaica House. Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, and National Commercial Bank (NCB) Financial Group Chairman, Michael Lee-Chin, headed the officials participating in the event. The Fund, to be administered by the NCB...

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, on Monday (July 8) announced that Jamaica’s Tropical Cyclone Policy with the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) has triggered a payment following the passage of Hurricane Beryl. Dr. Clarke said the Government received a Preliminary Modelled Loss and Policy Payment Report from the CCRIF, which stated that...

The Government remains confident that Jamaica will be able to recover from the dislocation caused during Hurricane Beryl’s passage. Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, noted in a statement that while the severe weather system’s path and intensity did not trigger Jamaica’s Catastrophe Bond, there are other contingencies. The Bond is intended to provide...

Vegetable farmers impacted by Hurricane Beryl have commenced efforts to recover from losses sustained. The powerful cyclone, which passed just south of Jamaica as a category-four system on July 3, dealt a devastating blow to the agriculture sector, which racked up damage and losses totalling more than $1billion, based on preliminary estimates. Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS ) President, Lenworth Fulton,...

The National Works Agency (NWA) is urging motorists to exercise extreme caution while using signalized intersections where the traffic lights are out of service. The agency is aware that several traffic signals across the island are out of commission following the passage of Hurricane Beryl last week. Manager of Communication and Customer Services at the NWA, Stephen Shaw, says that...

Tourism Minister and Member of Parliament for St. James East Rural, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says the parish’s mobile Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has been instrumental in addressing a range of issues brought on by Hurricane Beryl. “Reports of roads being blocked, electrical wires down, trees falling, and other potential dangers were reported in real time and were swiftly dealt with...

Preliminary estimates indicate that the island’s agricultural sector has suffered over $1 billion in damage due to the passage of Hurricane Beryl. Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, made the disclosure during an assessment tour of farms in sections of St. Elizabeth on Saturday (July 6). He said there was damage to all crop lines. “In fact,...