The United States yesterday signed a grant agreement with the Jamaican Government to release J$1.1 billion in funds to assist the country's reconstruction efforts, following the passage of Hurricane Ivan in September.
By Dionne RoseU.S. Ambassador to Jamaica, Sue Cobb, made the presentation to Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Omar Davies, at his Heroes Circle office in Kingston.
"This $1.1 billion infusion of funds granted today will be focused on rebuilding homes, schools and community centres and will provide assistance for small business enterprises," Mrs. Cobb said.
The funds will be administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and will be implemented over a 12- month period.
EXPANDED PROGRAMME
Karen Turner, mission director at the USAID said: "The objectives of the expanded programme are to help Jamaica restore lost productive capacity as soon as possible, generate employment, use self-help principles to empower communities to help themselves recover and build back better by using relevant building codes and appropriate technology to reduce vulnerability to catastrophic damage in future hurricanes."
The mission director said the funds would provide items such as shutters, hurricane straps and other low-cost modifications that can improve the ability of structures to serve as safe shelters. She said that in addition to repairing the schools, the funds would also replace learning materials and equipment lost.
To date, the United States has contributed J$1.6 billion in the region to help in hurricane reconstruction efforts.
In his response, Dr. Davies thanked the United States for the additional support.
"I want to sincerely express appreciation for this support because there are places in the U.S., which have been damaged as badly as Jamaica," he said, referring to the fact that Florida, on the U.S. south coast, was hit by four hurricanes this season, which left billions of dollars in damage.
Turning to the economy, Dr. Davies said that 'Ivan' was a set-back to the economy but said the government was adamant that "despite the additional expenditure and despite the impact on revenues, we intend to stick to our medium-term macro-economic targets, in particular, balancing the budget by fiscal year 2005/06."
"This is not just an empty commitment, it has implications for collection of revenues; it has implications for ensuring that whatever the expenditure undertaken, it can be justified and must be properly done," he said.
