The Government of Jamaica is expected to begin issuing reconstruction grants to citizens whose homes were damaged during the passage of Hurricane Melissa by early January.
Information Minister Dr. Dana Morris Dixon confirmed the update during Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, noting that the grants are tied directly to official damage assessments conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
Dr. Morris Dixon stressed that only verified cases will receive assistance.
“We are only going to be giving grants to individuals who have been assessed as having been affected. And it’s the same thing with the roof repairs. We will only be repairing roofs of individuals who have been assessed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to have been affected, and the assessments are ongoing,” she said.
40,000+ Assessments Completed So Far
Labour and Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles Jr. reported that, as of December 9, a total of 40,144 household damage assessments have been completed.
He said the ministry currently has 544 trained assessors operating on its platform and anticipates doubling that number in the coming weeks.
“Cabinet has approved the scaling up of household damage assessments… which will see us having the ministry’s integrated assessment acceleration strategy supported by ministries, departments and agencies that have field capacity to assist us in completing the remaining household damage assessments,” he explained.
The aim is to assess 150,000 households by the end of next month.
Roof Repairs Prioritized
Dr. Morris Dixon also highlighted that repairing damaged roofs in the affected parishes will be a core focus of the recovery effort.
The work is expected to be carried out through a collaboration involving the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), the HEART/NSTA Trust, and international delegations.
“We’re going to be working with HEART/NSTA Trust to provide young people to work with the JDF in repairing those roofs that have been damaged. In addition to that, you’d have heard that there are delegations coming in from various countries that will be helping in that effort. So, we have teams coming from Guyana, from Ghana, from Ethiopia and also from Rwanda,” she said.
The JDF will only repair roofs that are structurally sound, and additional checks may be needed for electrical safety.
“I know Minister Vaz is also looking at house wiring because that’s very important because we may need to rewire many of these homes,” Dr. Morris Dixon added.
Private Sector Support Expected
Private construction companies will also be approached to assist with nationwide rebuilding efforts as assessments continue and the scale of the damage becomes clearer.
