Food, building materials to gobble up Hanover’s hurricane relief allocation
Published:Thursday | July 11, 2024 | 12:05 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
In Hanover, the majority of the funds allocated by the Government for hurricane relief will go towards food and building material. Those are the items the parish’s political representatives say are in greatest demand.
“I have been on the road every day since Thursday, July 4, and my assessment so far is that we [in western Hanover] have been hardest hit in terms of infrastructural damage,”member of parliament (MP) for Western Hanover Tamika Davis told The Gleaner during an interview.
“I have met with a lot of persons who have lost their roofs, whether partially or completely, and we are collecting the data now so that we can be better able to assist in a meaningful way,” she stated.
“We anticipate that we will have grocery vouchers, we will ... have food packages, and we are also trying to get building materials for those most affected,” she said.
Davis said the contributions are to be provided through the Government’s $5-million hurricane relief allocation to members of parliament.
“I am sure that by the latest Wednesday, July 10 we will start distributing hurricane relief items,” she stated.
Dave Brown, the MP for Eastern Hanover, shared Davis’ view on the severity of the hurricane’s impact on rural districts in his constituency. Among those hit hard, he said are; Cascade, Jericho, Kew and Claremount.
“The recovery effort is off to a very slow pace because of how things are structured. The National Works Agency needs more private contractors on the ground to actually do the work,” Brown stated.
He said that while a number of persons did voluntary work immediately after the passing of the hurricane, some persons are now requesting to be paid before they do any more work.
“So that is one of the problems right now, as it cannot be done like that once it (work) comes through the Government,” he stated.
He named Welcome, Cacoon, and Haddington as areas he visited since the passing of the hurricane, noting that a lot of electrical wires are down.
“In my estimation, I can’t see electricity returning under a week in those areas.”
Brown said that the funding can be used to purchase food, building materials and for clean-up exercise, adding that his team is also currently doing an assessment of the hurricane damage.
“We are going to be using $3.5m on food and $1.5m on building materials. I think right now people are hungry and want some food, and that is the first thing we are going to prioritise,” he stated.
He admitted that the $1.5m will not be enough for building materials, based on the amount of damage he has seen in his travels across the constituency, but committed to try to source additional funds. He, too, pointed out that the distribution process will begin in a matter of days.