Hotline Established for Farmers and Fishers to Report Damage

A customer service hotline has been established for the agricultural and fisheries sectors to report damage and needs.

Persons can call 888-Ask-RADA which is 888-275-7232.

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, made the disclosure during a post-Cabinet press conference held at Jamaica House on July 17.

“You can call to deal with RADA (Rural Agricultural Development Authority) issues or… we will channel [the information] to the National Fisheries Authority who will take that information and pass it to the [relevant] teams so that there can be some verification,” Mr. Green said.

He said that there will also be collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to identify farmers and fishers who have had significant damage to their houses.

“The truth is that our farmers can’t get back going if they still have to focus on rebuilding their houses and putting back roofs on their houses,” he noted.

“What we have done in that regard is we’ve asked our RADA and fisheries teams, where they are out in the field and they come across a farmer or a fisher who has suffered a major or complete loss, to compile a list so that we can pass that to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, so that they can be made a priority,” he said.

The Jamaica Bauxite Mining Limited (JBM) has committed $20 million to assist in the recovery of the agricultural sector, and Minister Green noted that the private sector had also provided support in the aftermath of the hurricane.

“They have really shown up, thus far, and a number of them are launching initiatives to help our farmers and fishers,” he said.

Assessments have indicated financial loss of $4.73 billion to the agriculture sector from the passage of Hurricane Beryl.