Holness promises more ROOFS funding as 50,000 await hurricane grants

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has announced that additional funding will soon be allocated to the Government’s ROOFS programme, assuring Jamaicans who have not yet received grants that they have not been forgotten.

Speaking at the Whitehouse Community Centre in Westmoreland during a tour last Friday, Holness said the initial allocation could only cover about half of the applicants.

“We have registered over 100,000 Jamaicans to receive the grant. We allocated, in the first instance, $10 billion. That $10 billion would have assisted just about 50,000 of the 100,000,” he said.

“So half of the people who should get the grant have gotten them. The other half is now looking on and saying, ‘How you get and I have not gotten? Have I been forgotten?’ The answer is no; you have not been forgotten.”

Holness acknowledged the frustration being experienced by people whose homes were severely damaged and who are still living under tarpaulins.

“I know the psychology. Many of you have lost your homes totally. You are still under tarps and you get frustrated. As your prime minister, I become the object of that frustration and that is indeed my job,” he said.

He explained that the Government had to carefully phase payments to avoid placing undue pressure on the country’s finances.

“We have to be very careful how we make the allocations in the Budget, because whilst we might make the allocation and give everybody one time, at the end of the day you end up in debt, which places more taxes on you,” he said.

“As revenues come in, we make the allocation. And so we are now going to make a further allocation that will assist a certain number of the other 50,000 who have not gotten.”

Holness said Finance Minister Fayval Williams would soon announce the new allocation “in a few more days”.

Responding to concerns from residents who said they had registered but had not received any follow-up, Holness disclosed that the Government would review applications after receiving complaints that some genuine victims had been left off the list.

“We have gotten a number of those complaints. And just yesterday, I was speaking to the minister of labour and social security and we have agreed that we are going to do a review of the entire list to pick up those persons who should be genuine beneficiaries but were not on the list,” he said.

He also clarified that the grant is awarded per household rather than per individual.

“So if your house is damaged, they come and they inspect your house; the grant is for the repair of the house,” Holness said.

Turning to criticism over the non-use of millions in donations received following the disaster, Holness said the funds had been earmarked for visible recovery efforts rather than direct cash payments.

“From the outset, we were very clear that we must use those donations in tangible ways, meaning in ways that we can point to,” he said.

He noted that donated funds had been used to support roof restoration and the construction of modular, semi-permanent houses.

“Over 500 roofs have been restored. And in this constituency, over 200 of them have been restored by that process,” he said, referring to Westmoreland Eastern.

Holness also urged grant recipients to use the money for rebuilding, saying many had done so responsibly.

“I would dare say that 90 per cent of the persons who have received their grants have done that. But you know how it is. The half that don’t receive will cry louder than the half that receive. And that is the reality.”

mickalia.kington@gleanerjm.com