PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson yesterday revealed that preliminary estimates from the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) indicate that the island suffered $22.44 billion (US$362 million) in damage as a result of the battering received from Hurricane Ivan almost a month ago.
But the Prime Minister also warned that the estimates would most likely go up as sectors of the economy and communities had suffered private losses not yet calculated.
"There are even some agencies of Government which have not been able to completely quantify their loss," Mr. Patterson told journalists during what has become his regular appearance at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
ASSESSMENT
The Prime Minister, who had until yesterday avoided giving an official cost assessment of the damage, indicated that direct damage to assets, including structures, equipment and inventories, has been estimated at $18.5 billion. Indirect costs, such as the effect on the flow of goods and services, has been assessed at $3.8 billion.
The total damage, Mr. Patterson said, amounts to 4.8 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with direct damage valued at 3.9 per cent and indirect damage valued at 0.9 per cent.
The PIOJ estimates are based on data received from Government agencies, insurance companies, businesses, the manufacturing and tourism sectors, and the bauxite industry.
Mr. Patterson stressed that damage assessments will not be completed for another two weeks at the latest and that there remains "significant gaps" in data on infrastructure, particularly relating to housing, utilities and the tourism sector.
"Hence the preliminary estimate is likely if not certain to understate the actual impact," the Prime Minister said.
He added: "I think that the country is entitled to some information at this stage as to the ballpark of monetary damage that we have suffered as a result of Hurricane Ivan."
The methodology used to assess the damage was recommended by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and was first applied in Jamaica after floods in October 2001.
