Ambassador Marco Mazzocchi-Alemanni, head of European Commission Delegation in Jamaica. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

The European Commission will today officially disburse $756 million to the Jamaican Government to offset current budget expenses related to Hurricane Dean.

The handover, which will take place at Jamaica House, is part of the commission's pledged support to the country following hurricane damage to the island, which cost an estimated $22 billion.

Head of the delegation of the European Commission in Jamaica, Ambassador Marco Mazzocchi-Alemanni, said the multimillion-dollar assistance has been transferred directly to the treasury of the Government.

"As you know, Hurricane Dean has inflicted damage to Jamaica for about $22 billion. This has had a very heavy impact on government finances and the Jamaican Government, as you know, is intimately involved in activities to repair damage and help people that have been hit by the hurricane," said Mazzocchi-Alemanni during a press conference at the Office of the Delegation of the European Commission to Jamaica, at Olivier Road in St Andrew.

The disbursement, which is a grant, comes with no directives from the commission.

"The $750 million is for help and support to the Government for hurricane-related expenses, but we do not dictate to the government what to do. They decide and they will just tell us after the fact what they have done with it, how they have dealt with hurricane-related expenses," he told The Gleaner.

Over $1b in aid

The disbursement will bring the total assistance for Hurricane Dean rehabilitation from the European Commission to more than $1 billion. Other help from the commission came in the form of $144.8 million, for immediate relief through the Humanitarian Office of the European Union. The banana industry also received $220 million.

Ambassador Mazzocchi-Alemanni also told The Gleaner that in the upcoming financial year, the commission would continue its assistance to Jamaica in the arreas of crime and debt reduction.