Help on the way for drought-stricken areas
THE government has allocated an additional $16.5 million to provide residents in drought-stricken areas with trucked water. This is in addition to the $8 million approved in the first week of April, but which Information Minister Colin Campbell said was inadequate to meet the needs.
“Whereas some rain has been falling, it has not been enough to alleviate the problem. And, as a result, further resources have been allocated to deal with the drought situation islandwide,” Campbell told Monday’s post-cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
He said the sum comprised $11.5 million from the Ministry of Finance and Planning and $5 million from the Equalisation Fund of the Ministry of Local Government and the Environment.
The money will be spent on trucking water to affected areas.
The parishes most seriously affected are Kingston and St Andrew, St Thomas, St Catherine, Manchester, Clarendon, Westmoreland and Hanover.
