By Petulia Clarke, Staff Reporter
JUST OVER $2 million in food and bedding items has been disbursed to flood victims, under disaster relief efforts.
"All the affected areas that we know about, we've got some supplies into," Director-General at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Dr. Barbara Carby said yesterday.
Supplies include food and bedding that comes from funds allocated by the government through the Ministry of Social Security. Clothing comes from agencies like the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
"It varies. Some (parishes) would just need food, some would need food and bedding," Dr. Carby said.
Port Antonio's Mayor Phillip Thomas said yesterday that food was steadily getting to areas like Swift River, that are still inaccessible by road.
"Food has been going to them constantly," he said. "Those that we could not reach by road, food has been airlifted in. Food is not a problem at this point in time."
He said that as soon as the districts become accessible, the supply flow will dribble down and stop, "because we can't keep feeding them forever."
Deputy director at ODPEM Paul Saunders confirmed that relief efforts were going smoothly for those areas affected.
"We buy food to fill the need," he said, "persons are being fed adequate amounts. In terms of food supply we're not short."
"I think that we got enough (money and supplies) to cover our aspect of the disaster relief," Dr. Carby said.
"There's a lot to be done, especially in terms of Portland. The assessment still has to be completed, some of the teams have to walk long distances to get into the affected communities. We have to go through the whole process of getting the grants, then a lot of rehabilitation work has to be done. It doesn't end when the rain ends. The whole matter of relocation has been discussed so that too will be a part of the recovery process."
She added that it would be difficult to get persons, especially those that own land, to relocate.
"Experience has shown that this is not 100 per cent successful, but some people do relocate eventually."
In the meantime, teams are out assessing the nature of the damage and the need for supplies.
"There are parish teams out from ODPEM representatives, the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Social Security, the poor relief department, Red Cross, Salvation Army, churches and voluntary organisations," she said.
The budget for the ODPEM for this financial year was $50 million. From this they maintain local emergency stores for relief in disasters, allocate and distribute relief to victims and see to their rehabilitation.
