Jamaica
News - Real Estate - General (Sept 16, 2004)
Millions for relief - Private sector pledges support for recovery efforts
PRIVATE SECTOR leaders yesterday
pledged support for the Jamaica hurricane relief fund, which has been
established by the Patterson administration in the wake of Hurricane Ivan. The
hurricane has left 19,000 persons in shelters and billions of dollars in
industrial and infrastructural damage.
At a packed Jamaica House meeting yesterday,
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson told a wide cross-section of business interests
that an oversight committee will be set up to manage, control and disburse
relief funds.
Telecommunications provider Digicel was quick off
the mark and yesterday committed $200 million from its foundation to the
national recovery fund. Seamus Lynch, group CEO of Digicel, presented a
commitment letter to Mr. Patterson.
Following closed door discussions with private
sector leaders, Jamaica House issued a statement disclosing that hundreds of
millions of dollars were pledged, with several companies promising to make their
pledges after consultations with senior directors and board members.
The statement revealed that two banking
institutions have promised to make millions of dollars in loans available to the
public at special rates as part their contribution to the recovery effort. In
addition, many companies have indicated their willingness to provide relief
supplies and freight forwarding services either at reduced rates or
complimentary.
On Monday, the National Commercial Bank
announced that it was committing up to $100 million in matching funds, up to
October 31, and the lottery company Supreme Ventures has donated $10 million.
Jamaica National Building Society has announced a lowering of interest rate for
customers seeking hurricane repair loans.
GETTING BACK ON TRACK
The Jamaica House meeting mandated Raymond Campbell, head of the Bankers'
Association of Jamaica, to invite all authorised deposit-taking institutions
operating in the country to open accounts to facilitate members of the public
and organisations to make contributions to the hurricane relief fund.
Mr. Campbell later stated
that the private sector group would meet today to determine the details of its
support of the national hurricane reconstruction effort.
Prime Minister Patterson noted that it was in
everybody's interest "for Jamaica to get back on track as quickly as
possible". He went on to argue that the recovery and reconstruction process
must be done "in a manner that does not derail the development train in
which we have been travelling over the last few months." On Monday, Mr.
Patterson had named Danville Walker, the director of elections, to head the
Office of National Reconstruction.
In the meantime "local donations have
been pouring in from all over," Nadine Newsome, senior director of
information and training, reported yesterday. Some of the donations included
bottled water from Winsynco Trading Company and Pepsi Jamaica; canned foods from
Grace, Kennedy and Company; biscuits and baked items from Continental Bakery and
non-perishable items from Kraft Foods, among others.
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