Damion Mitchell, Staff Reporter

SEVERAL RELIEF initiatives were announced yesterday by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson as an initial response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Ivan on Friday and Saturday.

The hurricane, packing winds of up to 250 kilometres per hour, claimed 17 lives, directly and indirectly, including those of eight persons in Portland Cottage, south-east Clarendon.

Addressing members of the essential services at a Disaster Response Committee meeting at the Office of the Prime Minister on Hope Road, St. Andrew, the Prime Minister said a plane with relief items was expected to arrive here from Mexico within 24 hours.

MPS TO HELP

Also, each of the 60 members of parliament will be given an additional $100,000 to assist with relief efforts in their respective constituencies. Prior to the hurricane, the MPs had received a similar sum for relief assistance.

Yesterday, a representative of Jamaica Red Cross also reported at the committee meeting that three of five plane loads of relief items should arrive here today. The Prime Minister said several corporate entities had indicated that they would be assisting with the Government's relief programme as soon as the needs are identified.

He said: "We do not have a full and complete assessment of the damage (caused by the hurricane) but we have received communication from certain portions of Jamaica that will cause us to realise that we must not use Kingston as the yardstick to judge what has happened in the rest of Jamaica."

WORST HIT

Mr. Patterson cited Portland, Clarendon, Manchester, St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Hanover and St. James as the parishes that have been worst hit.

He said he would be tabling several proposals at today's Cabinet meeting for a co-ordinated reconstruction programme while a special meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was being planned to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Ivan in both Jamaica and Grenada.

"I entertain no doubt whatsoever that we are going to pursue the recovery after Ivan in a way that we can ensure a resumption of the development agenda." of Trinidad and Tobago would be visiting Jamaica soon to view the damage.

AIRPORT REOPENING

Robert Pickersgill, the Transport Minister, said every effort was being made to have the Norman Manley International Airport reopen today. Storm surges had caused tonnes of sand to be deposited on the Palisadoes strip leading to the airport in east Kingston.

Yesterday, workmen from the National Works Agency (NWA) with the assistance of personnel from Bouygues Travaux cleared the road enough to facilitate single lane traffic. However, the community of Port Royal was still inaccessible because of fallen power lines, poles and debris.

Ivan Anderson, the chief executive officer of the NWA, told The Gleaner that more than 40 pieces of equipment in addition to those provided by contractors and some volunteers, were being used to assist in restoring access to the more than 120 roads in other parts of the island that were cut off as a result of the disaster.

"Fortunately, up to now we haven't had any report of any major bridges or any major structure that have been damaged," he said.

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