KINGSTON, Jamaica — Prime Minister Andrew Holness says that each Member of Parliament will be allocated $1.5 million from the Housing Fund to assist with repairs to houses in their constituencies that were significantly damaged by the heavy rains.

In addition, each constituency will receive $1.5 million from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security as rehabilitation grants for the neediest cases brought to the attention of the MP.

“This is the start,” Holness said in a statement to Parliament yesterday. “As we go through and we decide on reallocations, we may be able to do more. This is so that MPs are not flatfooted in the face of requests [for assistance].”

He noted that the funds allocated are part of the resources for the normal cyclical maintenance and mitigation work programme for public infrastructure across the island.

“We do not have unlimited resources, and therefore, we will have to use the cyclical mitigation programme and augment it with reallocations that we have had to decide upon to address the fallout as a result of the rainfall,” Holness said.

Close to $2 billion will be spent under the programme to repair and rehabilitate roads and accompanying infrastructure across the island which have been damaged by recent floods.