STATE MINISTER, DELROY WILLIAMS, DISTRIBUTES RELIEF SUPPLIES IN WESTMORELAND
#PostHurricaneMelissa
On Wednesday afternoon (Nov 12), State Minister in the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Delroy Williams and Hon. Zavia Mayne, State Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Public Service, along with a team from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security visited areas in Westmoreland that were hard hit by Hurricane Melissa. The team distributed care packages and other relief supplies, which included tarpaulins, hygiene and comfort items such as blankets and mattresses along with food items to last several days, this forms part of the government’s collective effort to alleviate the devastating effects of the Hurricane.
Some residents, bound by camaraderie, expressed appreciation for the supplies and highlighted that members of the community were able to repair many of the houses that were damaged during the ordeal.
“A lot of us come together as a community…We did that and made it happen…and it was good” one resident said.
“We are assisting community members in various ways, some in terms of care packages, for some we are looking at other needs, like roofing needs, we have distributed tarpaulins, we have found in a lot of cases, people wanted tarpaulins,” Minister Williams said
“You would expect that after an experience like this that people would be down and so forth, I don’t see that. Some of the damage done, you would not have captured it, a lot of the residents came together in the community spirit, in the Jamaican spirit, helped each other and started the rebuilding and the repairs where necessary. It was good for us to come here, and we will keep coming back” he continued as he commended the solidarity among residents.
The Governmen
t of Jamaica has taken an ‘all hands-on deck’ approach with several committees and initiatives in place to fast-track relief response following Hurricane Melissa. This, as they work towards bringing some sense of normalcy to western Jamaica while they determine more robust, long-term plans for the country.
Minister Mayne added, “We did not want anybody to be left behind, so apart from the care packages that we brought, the kind of devastation that we saw, necessitated a more detailed response, and the agencies of government that were here, were so equipped.”
During the visit, officers from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security collected information for residents who were adversely affected by the Hurricane, in a bid to determine who could benefit from the other programmes such as the Social Pension Programme and the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH).
