Boston, Portland – The European Commission will provide J$3.3 billion to the Jamaican Government to help with the rebuilding of the country that was battered by Hurricane Ivan between September 10 and 11, leaving $22.44 billion in damage.

Charge d’Affaires of the European Commission delegation in Kingston Ambjorn Berglund made the announcement last week. He was speaking during the handing-over ceremony for the infant department at the Boston Primary School in Portland, which was built under the poverty reduction programme. The J$7.82-million project was sponsored by the European Union and implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund.

“At the end of September, the European Commission made a grant payment of euro11.1 million (J$0.8 billion) to the Government of Jamaica as a first instalment of the EU-funded general budgetary support programme SERP III (Support to the Economic Reform Programme),” said Berglund. “The EC will, within the present fiscal year, disburse an additional euro8 million (J$0.6 billion) under SERP III. A further euro25 million (J$1.9 billion) has been earmarked as emergency assistance to Jamaica, awaiting the government’s final report of the economic consequences of Hurricane Ivan.”

He added: “This means that during this fiscal year a total of approximately J$3.3 billion has been or is earmarked to become available to Jamaica in the form of budget support. These resources should ease the consequence following the devastation due to hurricane Ivan.”

Additional help, he said, would be supplied by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO). These funds will be channeled through NGOs, Red Cross and UN partners once the needs for humanitarian aid have been identified, Berglund said.