Prime Minister Andrew Holness providing an update on the Hurricane Beryl relief and recovery efforts in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, July 16. (Rudranath Fraser/JIS)
Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced a raft of housing and reconstruction measures post Hurricane Beryl. He detailed the measures in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
Tauna Thomas reports.
Prime Minister Holness told the House that damage assessments have been completed on about 5,000 households across the country.
He says the various social programmes managed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security will be leveraged to provide assistance to those worst affected by Beryl.
These include the Rehabilitation Grants programme at an estimated cost of $200 million.
And under the National Insurance Scheme, the life certificate requirement for the August payment will be waived.
The prime minister announced that through the assessment process, the ministry has increased targeting and identification of beneficiaries for its programmes to include those collecting the social pension and people registered with the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities, along with senior citizens.
The prime minister says $1 billion have been allocated to provide grants and assistance for restoration, reconstruction and relocation works.
And the prime minister has also announced several measures through the National Housing Trust, NHT, to assist with recovery from Hurricane Beryl.
The prime minister says the NHT has already received a number of inquiries and claims since Hurricane Beryl. He says NHT will extend a moratorium to approved NHT mortgagors for up to six months.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
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