KINGSTON, Jamaica—Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Desmond McKenzie, has announced that 419 churches that were damaged during the passage of Hurricane Melissa are to receive grants from the Government in April.

The grants will be paid out under the Government’s $75 million Community Church Clean-Up and Restoration Initiative, which forms part of the post-Hurricane Melissa National Clean-Up Programme.

Mckenzie provided details during the Kingston and St Andrew Governance Conference, held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston on Wednesday.

The conference was held under the theme ‘Civil Society Organisations (CSO) on a Mission: Reset the Vibe…Build Our Future…Reignite the Fire’.

Delivering the main address, McKenzie indicated that approximately 6,000 churches across Jamaica were affected during the passage of Hurricane Melissa last October.

He said recognising this fact, the Government, through the Social Development Commission (SDC), conducted assessments across the most affected parishes to determine the level of damage sustained.

“I’m pleased to announce this morning, that in April, the handing out of cheques to some 419 churches that were assessed, evaluated, and signed off on [will take place],” the Minister said.

He noted that the handover will take place in St Elizabeth, which has the bulk of the churches impacted.

The SDC recently indicated that it had received applications from churches in St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, St James, Trelawny and Hanover, with the largest concentration of submissions coming from St Elizabeth, Westmoreland and St James.

The assessment of the religious institutions was supported by the municipal corporations and various community groups.