Gov’t to tweak flood budget
Published:Thursday | November 5, 2020 | 12:13 AMPaul Clarke/Gleaner Writer
As torrential rains continue to lash Jamaica, the Government is considering a reallocation of funds for its flood bill that was tabled in Parliament last week.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness made the announcement at Wednesday’s handover of tablets to Seaward Primary School in his St Andrew West Central constituency.
Holness said that another assessment would have to be done by next week, which would probably result in an update of previous calculations.
The prime minister had indicated last week that the damage caused by Tropical Storm Zeta, which drenched the island, stood at more than $2 billion.
Holness said there was now a challenge in how, and when, his administration would respond to further severe weather amid fluid budgetary priorities.
He said the Government would mobilise resources to ensure that residents have access and that critical roads reopen amid land slippages and flooding that had left communities marooned.
“That work is under way, but there are some things we just can’t do right now. We have to watch the weather very carefully, and soon as we are satisfied that there will not be a recurrence, then we can start to mobilise resources,” Holness said, adding that road-patching could be not be done until the weather stabilised.
PREVENTATIVE MEASURE
At the same time, he said some drain-cleaning activity would be done to prevent any further flooding.
“We have already made some allocations to do the immediate response. Now, we are watching this new centre of rains, and we are hoping it does not create any further damage than what was created a week or so ago,” Holness said.
The Meteorological Service’s seasonal outlook for Jamaica indicates near-normal to above-normal rainfall for the three-month period November 2020 to January 2021. It said that this should reduce the severity of the upcoming dry season, which usually begins in December.
“It is not just the infrastructure allocations that the Government is making but that I understand that persons would have lost crops, some would have sustained damaged to their roofs, and others would have lost other forms of livelihood,” said Holness.
Further, he stated that the Ministry of Agriculture was doing an assessment and that the Government would, by next week, have a plan in place to assist hard-hit farmers and fishers across the country. The agriculture flood bill has already surpassed $2 billion.