Jamaica seeks Nicole funding

Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other state entities are slated to meet with representatives of several countries and multilateral agencies this morning to discuss financial support to deal with the devastation caused by heavy rains linked to Tropical Storm Nicole.

Daryl Vaz, minister with responsibility for information, says the countries and agencies have indicated an interest in helping Jamaica recover from this latest body blow.

"The meeting will discuss what the situation is now and how we move forward in terms of assistance," Vaz told The Gleaner yesterday.

"So far, we have received a grant of US$200,000 from a multilateral agency to help with the assessment but you know that until you have hard numbers, you cannot approach any entity to get assistance," Vaz said.

Initial grant

According to Vaz, officials of the United States Embassy in Kingston have also offered an initial grant of US$50,000 to assist Jamaica.

The Government has already projected that it will need billions of dollars to repair the infrastructure damaged by the flood rains.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Bruce Golding told journalists that while it was too early to provide an estimate of the cost of the repairs, it was obvious that the Budget would have to be adjusted. "The damage is going to be expensive," declared Golding.

Several roads, gullies and bridges across the island were damaged by the heavy rain which reached more than 200 millimetres (eight inches) in some areas.