SOME ELEVEN drought-affected parishes across the island are set to benefit from almost $19 million in government assistance as the dry spell continues to create problems in sections of the parishes.
Each parish will receive approximately $1.5 million under the assistance plan.
"We have given the instruction that they should go ahead and start spending the money right away," said Dean Peart, Minister of Land and Environment.
The Minister noted that a monitoring committee, comprising representatives from the Ministries of Land and Environment, Agriculture, Health, Local Government, Water and Housing and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), has been established to oversee the distribution of the funds.
He said the Committee, which has met at least two times already, recommended that $11 million be allocated by the Ministry of Housing, while the other $8 million should be sought from private contributors. Cabinet on Monday approved $11 million to repair Rapid Response trucks to bring the fleet up to 95.
FLEET
"And we are hoping that the fleet would be up by the end of the week," said Minister Peart.
Senator Norman Grant, president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) said yesterday that although the drought is adversely affecting the sector, it had not resulted in any shortage of produce in the markets or stores. He said the effects of the drought would be manifested mainly in crops that were not yet ready for harvesting.
Mr. Grant said the projected output from the sector might not be realised as a result of the expected low yield from crops that have not yet matured.
He said the southern plains of St. Elizabeth especially, are being adversely affected.
"In fact I wrote to the Minister of Water asking for increased trucks to be made available under the Rapid Response Programme to somewhat help to alleviate the problem," Senator Grant added. He said he has not yet got a response from Mr. Buchanan.
But with the drought problem becoming a perennial one, the JAS president asserted that "it is clear that right now the proposal that Jamaica Agriculture Society is proposing be put on the front burner, is a national irrigation strategy to deal with the problem of irrigation once and for all."
Checks made at the market in Kingston revealed no reduction in the amount of produce on sale or any significant rise in prices. Supermarkets checked also said there has been no major shift in prices or difficulty in souring produce locally.
