JSIF Redirects Support to Hurricane Affected Communities

Managing Director of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), Omar Sweeney, says the agency has been redirecting its focus to support recovery efforts in communities affected by Hurricane Melissa, with particular attention being given to projects across seven impacted parishes.

Mr. Sweeney told JIS News that following the passage of the storm, JSIF began reassessing ongoing programmes, to ensure that existing resources are deployed where they are most needed.

As part of that process, Mr. Sweeney indicated that projects already underway are being reviewed, including school infrastructure initiatives, particularly in western Jamaica.

“Those are the projects we would have in the seven affected parishes… school projects we have going on, and most of them in St. James,” he said, adding that some of the schools sustained damage.

Mr. Sweeney also outlined adjustments being made within the electrification programme, explaining that the initiative is being aligned with broader recovery efforts to support households affected by structural damage.

“We will be redirecting resources to support those persons who, for instance, would have lost their roof or had some building damage, which would affect their electrical circuitry in their homes,” he said.

He explained that JSIF’s intervention will go beyond restoring power and will include preparatory work to ensure reconnections can be carried out safely.

“Our support will include minor building repairs to ensure that the electricity can be safe,” he said, noting that in cases where roofs were damaged, electricity could not be safely restored without those repairs.

The Managing Director said the programme is expected to be rolled out across the seven parishes, targeting approximately 3,000 households.

Beyond infrastructure-related support, Mr. Sweeney said JSIF continues to facilitate access to social services, including assistance with civil registration documentation.

“We will continue to work with the [Office of the Registrar-General] and other agencies of Government, including the Ministry of [Labour and] Social Security, to ensure that persons can be pointed to those agencies or that we continue to facilitate the registration,” he said.

Mr. Sweeney also indicated that the agency remains engaged in discussions with the Government regarding the next phase of recovery, which will form part of a coordinated national reconstruction effort.

Addressing support within Zones of Special Operations (ZOSOs), Mr. Sweeney further noted that while social interventions continue, some infrastructural initiatives are being advanced in response to storm-related impacts.

“Where we were planning some infrastructural programmes, we are now accelerating the designs and completion, to get them to procurement so that we can really support the zone operation because they were also impacted,” he stated.

He added that social interventions remain active in ZOSO communities even as additional focus is placed on recovery efforts in western parishes.

Mr. Sweeney also confirmed that the Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI II) has been activated, to assist farmers and small community tourism enterprises affected by the hurricane.

“We’ve also mobilized our resources to support farmers who we know were already being supported and have gotten affected,” he said, noting that assistance will include support to rebuild greenhouses and replace items damaged or destroyed by the storm.

As recovery efforts progress, Mr. Sweeney said the focus is shifting from immediate relief to sustained support.

“We are at a critical stage now where the relief is on the ground sufficiently and so we are just looking forward now to really being able to continue to support,” he said.