Support Coming For Residents Of Southern Clarendon – PM

KINGSTON, July 6 (JIS):

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, is assuring residents of Southern Clarendon, who were hard hit by Hurricane Beryl, that the Government will provide assistance in ensuring their full recovery.

Speaking during a visit to the Rocky Point Community Centre on Saturday (July 6), which is being used as a shelter for displaced residents, the Prime Minister said that damages were being assessed to formulate the necessary response.

“Regarding roofs, the first thing we need to do is a thorough assessment. We understand the emergency of the situation, but we need to get the full picture of what the actual damage is. Some people have damage where they have lost a few pieces of zinc and their roofing structure is intact, others have damage where their entire roof is gone and others would have lost their entire house,” he noted.

“So, as soon as that assessment is done, then we will start to mobilise. For persons who need only zinc sheeting or other forms of zinc coverage, we should be able to mobilise much more quickly than for those who would need entire roof structures or entire homes,” the Prime Minister added.

As it relates to restoring electricity, the Prime Minister noted that there are some communities that were severely impacted by downed power lines.

He said he had spoken to Chairman of the Jamaica Public Service (JPS), Damian Obiglio and Minister of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, Hon. Daryl Vaz that morning, and they have established a taskforce to ensure full restoration of power in the shortest time possible.

The Prime Minister said that work is also being done to address telecommunications issues and to provide water to residents.

“I have seen a report from one telecommunications provider, which is giving us assurance that they are working to restore [the service], so we should expect that by Monday, there would be some telecommunications coverage in this area,” he said.

The Prime Minister also highlighted challenges to supplying water because of the power outage but noted that provisions are being made.

He said that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security will be providing water and trucking will also be done.

“The challenge is that even the pumping stations are without electricity so it is difficult to fill the trucks, but we are putting in place a solution for that. So, by Monday we should be able to start trucking water into these areas,” he assured.

Rocky Point, along with Portland Cottage and Mitchell Town, were severely impacted by Hurricane Beryl.

The damage to the Clarendon fishing communities includes flooding, loss of housing infrastructure, damage to farms and loss of critical tools to support fisherfolk.