More Food Packages For Seven And Eight Miles
By: , March 19, 2020The Key Point:
Photo: Donald De La Haye
Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, addresses a press conference at Jamaica House on Wednesday (March 18). Listening (from left) are Chief Medical Offiicer, Dr.Jacquiline Bisasor McKenzie; and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dunstan Bryan.
Photo: Donald De La Haye
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Colette Roberts Risden, speaking at a press briefing at Jamaica House in Kingston on Wednesday (March 18)The Facts
- “We will be making more available,” said Health and Wellness Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton.
- “I visited the warehouse where the packing is taking place and we co-opted and got the support of the private sector to donate a fair bit of additional supplies, which we will start rolling , if not already, by tomorrow (March 19).”
The Full Story
The Government will be increasing the delivery of food packages to the Seven and Eight Miles communities in Bull Bay, St. Andrew, which are currently under quarantine.
“We will be making more available,” said Health and Wellness Minister, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton.
“I visited the warehouse where the packing is taking place and we co-opted and got the support of the private sector to donate a fair bit of additional supplies, which we will start rolling , if not already, by tomorrow (March 19).”
Dr. Tufton was speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday (March 18) at Jamaica House in St. Andrew.
The Health Minister and representatives from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security visited the Seven and Eight Miles communities on Wednesday where residents highlighted the need for more food and medication.
Food is currently being delivered by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
“They have been doing a lot. They have been delivering quite a lot of food packages. I have seen the packages for myself and I think they are quite substantial,” Dr. Tufton said.
“We, however, took the decision that we would increase the number of packages that would be delivered to the communities,” he noted.
As it relates to medication, he said residents are advised to report their needs to the support team on the ground, which he noted, will be strengthened.
In the meantime, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Colette Roberts Risden, said that at the end of the day, 900 packages would have been delivered to several areas in the two communities.
She said that the delivery team includes members of the Jamaica Red Cross.
She noted that families not only received food but also hygiene packages with soap, toilet paper and bleach in some instances.
“We do have enough and the team will be going out tomorrow again to distribute to any family, who didn’t receive and also to go back to the first set of families, who received on Saturday,” Mrs. Roberts Risden said.