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BULLETIN #35
Rebuilding Jamaica
October 14, 2004 - 5:00 p.m.
Distribution of cheques to commence next week
Victims of Hurricane Ivan will start receiving cheques on October 19. The distribution
of these monies will be based on the beneficiary listing generated during the
assessment process.
The assessment process was scheduled to be completed on October 10, but has been extended to October 17 as allowance had to be made for households not visited during the designated period. The extension was also to ensure that deserving persons were not excluded from the process.
Once the distribution of cheques commences, no further assessment will be undertaken, as both processes will not be conducted simultaneously. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has reported that to date approximately 100,000 households have been assessed and more than 52,000 applications processed.
Current analysis so far shows that, 9 per cent of dwellings were completely
destroyed, 7 per cent were severely damaged, and 14 per cent suffered other
or minor damage.
Payments will range from $5000 for houses, which received minor damage to $20,000
for houses, which were completely destroyed.
Persons seeking shelter relocated
The Clarendon Parish Council has relocated the two remaining persons, who were
being sheltered at the Portland Cottage Primary School in Clarendon.
The two persons were relocated to the Portland Cottage Community Centre as an
interim measure, while they await action by relatives, who are in contact with
the Parish Council.
The hurricane victims were given tarpaulins and mattresses, and are expected to take refuge with relatives by October 19.
£22,000 collected for Relief Fund
The sum of £22,000, which translates into $2.4 million Jamaican dollars,
was raised for the Jamaica Hurricane Relief Fund at a 'Tea Party and Social'
organized by the staff of the High Commission and Jamaican government agencies
in London.
The event, held on October 8, was the auction of a six-point blue sapphire diamond ring donated by Jamaican-born Lady Colin Campbell. Other prizes were donated by Air Jamaica, British Airways, Sandals Resorts, the SuperClubs Group, Sunset Resorts, Sandcastles, Black Amber Books, MacMillan Caribbean, Promoting Our Heritage and Textile artist, Doreen Gittens.
Nursing Homes operating as normal
With all reports now in, the Standards and Regulations Unit in the Ministry
of Health has stated that the island's 114 nursing homes were not adversely
affected during the passage of Hurricane Ivan.
According to Director of Standards and Regulations, Princess Thomas-Osbourne, monitoring teams had visited over 25 per cent of the homes; while the rest were contacted by phone to discern their status. She says all the homes are operating as normal without extensive damages.
Although nursing homes are not under the direct responsibility of the Ministry of Health, Mrs. Thomas-Osbourne notes that the Ministry is concerned about the health of the residents, and is in fact responsible for the standards of the homes.
Meanwhile, the Unit will be hosting a workshop to further sensitise operators of nursing homes about the requirements for registration at the St. James Health Department on October 21 at 9:00 a.m.
Contact: The Public Relations Department
E-mail: pr@jis.gov.jm
Tel: 929-1919
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