PORT ANTONIO, Portland - Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites says the Japanese Government will be doing substantial repairs to the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) in Portland, damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

Thwaites was speaking to the media after a tour of the institution and a board meeting Friday.

“I am touched by the extent of the damage. CASE appears to be the most damaged of all educational institutions as a result of Miss Sandy. The estimates of damage are in the region of $75 million which is a substantial amount principally to do with the livestock section and commendable to the institution, no animal was lost, no poultry either,” Thwaites said.

Dormitories at CASE have also been badly affected along with other facilities such as the library.

“We have the very important help of the Government of Japan which has indicated that they will underwrite a significant portion of the repairs and are intended to visit here just as soon as protocols between themselves and the ministry of education are signed, hopefully next week,” Thwaites said Friday.

“There are other international agencies which have expressed an interest in helping in restoring the farm. We got good news at the board meeting from permanent secretary Donovan Stanberry of agriculture who is also a board member that the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) and IICA (Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture) have shown interest in helping to restore the farm, he added.

At the same time Thwaites challenged that the repairs be done properly. “This is a hurricane zone, this is Portland, but I think we have to be very careful this time to make sure that techniques of construction and architecture that are used help us to avoid the predicaments of the present,” he said.

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