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Mayor reports $400,000 Portmore COVID cleaning programme

Published:Sunday | June 7, 2020 | 10:45 AM
Portmore Mayor Leon Thomas - File photo

Portmore Mayor Leon Thomas has revealed that the municipal corporation spent just under $400,000 for a major sanitisation programme at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in the municipality.

The disclosure comes amid reports that the St Ann Municipal Corporation spent $47 million to sanitise the town of Ocho Rios.

READ: More scrutiny on COVID clean-up

In a statement, Thomas said when the government announced that there was an outbreak of the virus, he quickly mobilised a roving crew of cleaners.

The Alorica call centre in Portmore was the site of an outbreak of the virus.

The response team included staff members of the municipal corporation as well as members of the Jamaica Fire Brigade in Waterford for a two-week cleaning exercise in the municipality. 

Thomas said the areas covered included the Naggo Head Transportation Centre, the entire Portmore Mall, the Greater Portmore health centre, the Greater Portmore post office and library, the Portmore Pines Plaza as well as bus stops. 

"We also cleaned the plazas, wherever we knew a lot of people would congregate or wherever there was heavy foot traffic," Thomas said.

The Integrity Commission has notified the government of its intention to "comprehensively monitor" the expenditure and contracts issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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