Prime Minister P.J. Patterson (background) talks with residents of Portland Cottage, Clarendon, yesterday about damage suffered during the passage of Hurricane Ivan. Eight persons from the community drowned on Friday following heavy rains. - JUNIOR DOWIE/Staff Photographer
PRIVATE SECTOR leaders yesterday pledged support for the Jamaica hurricane relief fund, which has been established by the Patterson administration in the wake of Hurricane Ivan. The hurricane has left 19,000 persons in shelters and billions of dollars in industrial and infrastructural damage.
At a packed Jamaica House meeting yesterday, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson told a wide cross-section of business interests that an oversight committee will be set up to manage, control and disburse relief funds.
Telecommunications provider Digicel was quick off the mark and yesterday committed $200 million from its foundation to the national recovery fund. Seamus Lynch, group CEO of Digicel, presented a commitment letter to Mr. Patterson.
Following closed door discussions with private sector leaders, Jamaica House issued a statement disclosing that hundreds of millions of dollars were pledged, with several companies promising to make their pledges after consultations with senior directors and board members.
The statement revealed that two banking institutions have promised to make millions of dollars in loans available to the public at special rates as part their contribution to the recovery effort. In addition, many companies have indicated their willingness to provide relief supplies and freight forwarding services either at reduced rates or complimentary.
On Monday, the National Commercial Bank announced that it was committing up to $100 million in matching funds, up to October 31, and the lottery company Supreme Ventures has donated $10 million. Jamaica National Building Society has announced a lowering of interest rate for customers seeking hurricane repair loans.
GETTING BACK ON TRACK
The Jamaica House meeting mandated Raymond Campbell, head of the Bankers' Association of Jamaica, to invite all authorised deposit-taking institutions operating in the country to open accounts to facilitate members of the public and organisations to make contributions to the hurricane relief fund.
Mr. Campbell later told The Gleaner that the private sector group would meet today to determine the details of its support of the national hurricane reconstruction effort.
Prime Minister Patterson noted that it was in everybody's interest "for Jamaica to get back on track as quickly as possible". He went on to argue that the recovery and reconstruction process must be done "in a manner that does not derail the development train in which we have been travelling over the last few months." On Monday, Mr. Patterson had named Danville Walker, the director of elections, to head the Office of National Reconstruction.
In the meantime "local donations have been pouring in from all over," Nadine Newsome, senior director of information and training, reported yesterday. Some of the donations included bottled water from Winsynco Trading Company and Pepsi Jamaica; canned foods from Grace, Kennedy and Company; biscuits and baked items from Continental Bakery and non-perishable items from Kraft Foods, among others.
(Staff reporters Erica James-King and Roy Sanford contributed to this story)