Gov’t to provide $400,000 grants to families whose houses were destroyed by Beryl
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Government, through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security will be providing a housing grant of $400,000 to families whose houses were destroyed by Hurricane Beryl.
Families whose homes have been severely damaged will receive a grant of up to $150,000 and those who experienced minor damage will receive up to $50,000.
This was stated on Tuesday by the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Pearnel Charles Jr, during a statement in the House of Representatives.
“We recognise the immediate challenges presented by using cheque payments and we are exploring options for electronic payments and cash cards to expedite these grants and improve service delivery,” said the minister.
He added: “We must approach this restoration process as a partnership of all stakeholders; it is therefore expected that these grants will be supplemented by a range of other initiatives, including donor funds, contributions from the Diaspora, private sector initiatives such as the recently launched National Commercial Bank Foundation’s, ‘Building a Better Jamaica Fund’, the CDF (Constituency Development Fund), and Food for the Poor”.
He shared that Food for the Poor has already replaced 20 roofs in Clarendon, one of the hardest-hit parishes, and will activate similar efforts in St Elizabeth this Thursday.
Meanwhile, Charles Jr said based on the analysis of the damage assessments completed so far, the projection is that the owners of approximately 8,700 houses islandwide will require some level of support from the government to aid in their recovery and rebuilding.
“Of this amount, the vast majority would have suffered minor damage” he said.
In the meantime, the ministry, through its Rehabilitation Grants Programme will be targeting 500 micro business operators for a $100,000 grant. It has been determined that they lost their livelihoods because of the hurricane. The total cost is $50 million.
Under the ministry’s Social Intervention Programme $30 million has been allocated to provide grants to 200 students at the tertiary level valuing $150,000 each. These students will be identified from households that have been severely impacted by the hurricane.
