OPPOSITION parliamentarian Mikael Phillips says the $11.8 billion that Government has set aside in the 2024/25 Estimates of Expenditure to address the damage across various sectors caused by the passage of Hurricane Beryl earlier this year is woefully inadequate.

Phillips, who was addressing Wednesday’s sitting of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) of Parliament, which he chairs, argued that an overall compilation of the damage is necessary to get a true picture of the required budget.

“I see an amount in the budget in the recurrent side in dealing with some of the Beryl issues that have arisen, and where the National Works Agency (NWA) is concerned, but the number that has been put in the budget for the road damage that we have seen out there prior to Beryl, and then Beryl, then you had the weeks of rain, the amount here, we don’t expect it to fix the problem one off; it is just inadequate for what the need is out there,” he said.

Phillips pointed out that the NWA had indicated that its estimate of the Hurricane Beryl damage to the road network is in the region of $40 billion, “but yet still, we’re only seeing $3 billion from the Relief Emergency Assistance, Community and Help (REACH) Programme plus another $26 million for road repairs from the National Works Agency. It’s a small number compared to what the actual damage is”.

The allocation in the estimates for Hurricane Beryl relief and recovery to the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, under which the NWA falls, is $6.79 billion.

In response to Phillips’s query regarding an overall estimate of what the Beryl damage actually cost the country, Financial Secretary Darlene Morrison said the Ministry of Finance does not have an estimate of the full damage.

“What we are reflecting here is what the Cabinet has indicated it is prepared to [provide] to finance the recovery. So, as is generally the case, the damage would be more than what we are proposing,” she said.

She noted that the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) is customarily involved in compiling a full indication of what the overall damage is, which would include things that are not the responsibility of the Government of Jamaica.

“So, yes, we are providing some level of recovery at this point and it will continue because you have recovery, you have reconstruction in some cases, which is a longer-term activity, dependent on what the damage is,” she said.

In terms of the NWA, she said “There is no way in one year we can address $40 billion in damage.

“Where you have damage that extensive, where you are estimating that you’re looking at damage of $40 billion, even if we had $40 billion you do not have the capacity to do that in one year,” she said.

According to the supplementary estimates which were tabled in the House of Representatives on Tuesday by Finance and the Public Service Minister Dr Nigel Clarke, the funds have been allocated to provide additional provision to support: Hurricane Beryl National Clean-up Programme — roads, recovery and general clean-up — $1.35 billion; support to the National Water Commission (NWC) due to operational and financial losses sustained from the passage of Hurricane Beryl — $1.54 billion; maintenance of the road infrastructure under the Relief Emergency Assistance, Community and Help (REACH) Programme — $3 billion; and for pre/post Hurricane Beryl Clean-up — $900 million.

The remainder of the Beryl allotment was split among the ministries of health and wellness; education and youth; labour and social security; tourism; agriculture, fisheries and mining; Office of the Prime Minister; and the Forestry Department.

In the meantime, the PIOJ told the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday that while there is a preliminary report that is awaiting other significant inputs, the reported damage for Hurricane Beryl for the infrastructure, social and productive sectors is $28 billion.