Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr has announced the allocation of an additional $300 million to the Rebuild Jamaica Initiative, which is geared towards assisting Jamaicans whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Beryl.

Individuals whose homes sustained minor damages will be allocated a cash grant of $50,000, while those with major damage will receive $150,000. Those whose homes were destroyed will receive $400,000.

“The Government of Jamaica allocated more than $1 billion to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to grant support to beneficiaries whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the hurricane. We have been assessing across the country. When I stood here first, the number at that time was 8,700; the number of assessments done now is beyond 13,500 across the country, so you can understand the amount of work that has been put in since the last three to four weeks,” Charles Jr shared.

He added that “the allocation from the Government is $1 billion; there is an additional $300 million to that, making it $1.3 billion for the entire relief programme.”

The minister said of the 13,500 assessments done, there are some 5,000 Jamaicans whose contact details have yet to be validated.

“We have been going through a process now of re-verification, reaching out to persons by phone, calling members of the community on their street, talking to the MPs [Members of Parliament], the councillors, and going back into the community. And so far, we have been able to, at least, validate the 13,500 — a little more than 7,000. The good news is that of that amount, we have validated 100 per cent of the validated beneficiaries; those cheques have been printed. One hundred per cent of those cheques have been distributed either to the parish offices or to the areas where they are to be collected, and of that amount, more than 50 per cent have either been delivered or collected by a beneficiary already,” he noted.

Charles Jr said the largest number of assessments was conducted in the parish of St Elizabeth, one of the hardest-hit parishes by Hurricane Beryl, with assessments still ongoing. 

Meanwhile, more than $16.4 million has already been allocated to residents of St Elizabeth whose homes have been impacted by Beryl.

Clarendon followed closely, where some $98.3 million was allocated in the form of cheques to residents.

“In addition to the cheques being provided by the Government of Jamaica — $50,000, $150,000, and $400,000 — through our collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme, there will be additional cash grants provided for several of the beneficiaries who are in the more vulnerable categories, and US$1.4 million will be provided by the UN World Food Programme to deliver cash grants to some of the worst-affected families, which includes children, persons with disabilities, and elderly members. Payments of that tranche will commence in September,” Charles Jr shared.

Additionally, some $42.7 million through UNICEF will be allocated to families on PATH with children ages 0 to 6 years and pregnant or lactating women. The Labour and Social Security Minister said the Government is seeking to replace some 1500 households with the replacement.