Omar Anderson and Dionne Rose, Gleaner Writers
PATTERSON
SOME 64,000 persons affected by Hurricane Ivan will each begin to receive their $5,000 cheques next week, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson promised yesterday.
He was responding to comments Opposition Leader Bruce Golding made on Tuesday in the House of Representatives, that some $320 million is yet to be disbursed to the affected residents islandwide.
"On Monday, before the Opposition Leader raised the question, we were told that the final category of recipients will receive their cheques because they are being printed and the distribution will begin next week," Mr. Patterson stated.
On Tuesday, Mr. Golding took the Government to task for being tardy in releasing funds it had committed to persons who suffered minor damage during Hurricane Ivan last September.
APPROACHING A YEAR
"We are now approaching a year since Ivan and they haven't got that money yet," Mr. Golding chided.
"Shame, shame," commented Audley Shaw, Opposition finance spokesman. "It's a shame and a disgrace."
Continuing, Mr. Golding told the House that the $320 million was provided for in the current 2005/2006 Budget.
"Through the eyes of some people, particularly when you are trying to balance the budget, that's a figure that needs to be fitted into something," he said, referring indirectly to Finance Minister Dr. Omar Davies' efforts to balance the budget this financial year.
Yesterday, Labour and Social Security Minister Horace Dalley confirmed that close to 65,000 persons had not yet received assistance.
Meanwhile, the Opposition Leader also took issue with head of the Office of National Reconstruction (ONR), Danville Walker for refusing to give parliamentarians a list of their constituents who benefited.
The ONR was established to coordinate relief efforts after the hurricane.
"This is not private money, it's the public money, we have to account for it, and you are telling me as an MP I'm not entitled to know how much was disbursed to persons in my constituency who benefited," chided Mr. Golding.
But Mr. Dalley rapped Mr. Walker for his stance.
"The matter you raised yesterday (Tuesday) regarding your contact with Mr. Walker, Mr. Walker is wrong and I say that without apology," he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Patterson told the House yesterday that a report with the number of Hurricane Ivan beneficiaries and the amount of money received, will be tabled in Parliament next week.
