Gov’t Pledges Swift and Substantial Support for Farmers Impacted by Hurricane Beryl

The Government has pledged swift and substantial support for farmers in the hardest-hit parishes of Jamaica, in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl.

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, announced that resources are being mobilised to aid recovery efforts, particularly in St. Elizabeth, Manchester and Clarendon.

The Government’s response comes after Minister Green toured the affected areas with Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, on Thursday (July 4) to assess the damage firsthand.

The tour started with an aerial view of Kingston and St Andrew, St. Catherine, and Clarendon, then a drive through sections of St. Elizabeth.

“We thought it was very important to get a firsthand view of the devastation,” Mr. Green stated.

“Clearly, a lot of the area had poor telecommunications, so we couldn’t get out what was happening. But we did hear that there was extensive damage across multiple places in St. Elizabeth,” he added.

The tour included visits to areas such as Great Bay and Billy’s Bay in Treasure Beach, with a drive through Newcombe Valley to observe the challenges residents and farmers are experiencing.

Mr. Green noted that the agricultural sector, particularly in Jamaica’s most productive regions, has suffered significant damage.

“From an agricultural standpoint, we have had significant damage. St. Elizabeth, Manchester and Clarendon [are] our most productive parishes and, unfortunately, those are the parishes that have suffered most from Hurricane Beryl.

“We had our team out doing assessments today (July 4), and from the feedback we have been getting, all categories of agriculture have been affected negatively by Hurricane Beryl,” he added.

In elaborating on the specific damage sustained by stakeholders, Mr. Green pointed out that vegetable farmers experienced flooding, livestock farmers faced damage to their shelters and loss of animals, and banana, plantain and coconut farmers saw numerous trees blown down.

“We have the team out doing assessments and we expect that, by next week, we will have a firm assessment of the damage,” the Minister assured, adding that “we will be putting ourselves in a position to help our farmers.”

Mr. Green said the comprehensive damage assessment, expected next week, will guide the Ministry’s efforts to restore productivity and aid those impacted by the hurricane.