Farmers to gain from new loan
published: Wednesday | August 25, 2004

By Monique Hepburn, Staff Reporter

WESTERN BUREAU:

FARMERS IN south-western sections of the island, who were adversely affected by the recent passage of Hurricane Charley, will stand to benefit from rescheduled loan facilities granted through the Develop-ment Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), as part of the government's emergency relief assistance.

REVIVING AGRI PRODUCTION

A new loan facility to be offered by the DBJ is also being established to quickly revive agricultural production in these areas, which include Manchester, St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland.

"The Development Bank of Jamaica has been authorised to reschedule farmers' loans and to create a new facility for them," Mr. Donald Buchanan, Member of Parliament for South West St. Elizabeth told The Gleaner during a tour of the parish with Prime Minister P.J. Patterson. "We are focusing our attention on the medium and long tern restoration of agricultural production to ensure that farmers are put in a position to start planting again."

OTHER ACTIVITIES

According to the Member of Parliament, an initial grant of $4m has been made available to assist farmers in the affected parishes, which will be disbursed as follows: $1 million for Manchester, $2 million for St. Elizabeth and $1 million for Westmoreland. The funds allocated will assist in the purchase of seeds, poultry and livestock. A total of $20 million has been earmarked for initial agricultural assistance.

Other activities now under way in St. Elizabeth includes the clearing and repair of damaged roads, which will be undertaken in a four-week repair schedule by the National Works Agency (NWA). The cost of clearing blocked roads is estimated at $15 million, which has already been allocated. The mandate has been given to the NWA to repair all roads irrespective of where they fall in the government structure.

Regular water supply has been restored in St. Elizabeth except for the community of Hounslow, which had a submerged pump. This, according to Mr. Buchanan, will be repaired by the end of the week, thus fully restoring water supply.