Aid rains down

[Willi]

AID RAINS DOWN - Gov't commits $1.5b for hurricane victims, road repairs. Prime Minister vows to halve oil dependence by 2017
published: Monday | November 19, 2007

Gareth Manning and Edmond Campbell, Gleaner Writers
Prime Minister Bruce Golding has announced that the Government will this week disburse $1.5 billion to assist hurricane victims and to fix rain- ravaged road.
This is in addition to $1 billion disbursed last week to the National Works Agency and parish councils to repair roads damaged by Hurricane Dean and torrential rains in October and November.

Golding, speaking yesterday to supporters at the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) 64th annual con-ference at the National Arena, said that the extensive damage to road infrastructure had forced the Government to spend more money to effect repairs.

Housing assistance?
Golding said Government would also be offering assistance to persons whose houses were damaged. The sums to be awarded, he said, would be $10,000 for minor damage, $22,000 for severe damage and $60,000 for houses completely destroyed.
Commenting on the sharp rise in prices of basic food items, the Prime Minister made it clear that the increases were the result of a hike in the prices of oil and other items, such as wheat and corn on the international market. The price of oil jumped to nearly US$100 per barrel last week.

He said the suggestion that the Government should subsidise basic food items to reduce the burden on the consumer was not possible.

According to Golding, the Govern-ment has had to find $600 million each day to service a massive debt accumu-lated by the previous administration.

He castigated the Opposition for blaming the Government for the increase in food prices.

"The PNP suffers from intellectual depravity, it's as if termites have infected their brains, as country people use to say, 'dem dark bad'."

He said the Government would be pushing to reduce by 50 per cent the country's dependence on oil as a main source of energy, by shifting to renewable sources by 2017.

Hospital nightmare
Turning to hospital services, the Prime Minister said he was unhappy with reports about "the almshouse treatment being given to some people when they go to public hospitals".

He said notwithstanding the scarcity of resources, it was not acceptable for persons to wait for more than five hours to get attention at public hospitals.

Golding said Health Minister Rudyard Spencer has been instructed to meet with senior medical personnel to improve the level of efficiency at hospitals.

The Prime Minister also said Government was moving to rebuild secondary health-care facilities to ease the workload of public hospitals, so that they could concentrate on more serious illnesses.

The JLP leader also reported that his administration intervened to save some 800 jobs at Eastern Banana and St. Mary Banana estates, following the devastation of the banana industry by Hurricane Dean. He said the companies had planned to send home the workers in December as the crops were destroyed.

On the issue of tax reform, Golding said the authorities were moving swiftly to pull tax evaders into the net. He stressed that as part of the Government's tax reform initiative, efforts would be made to spread the tax burden more equitably. Small and medium enterprises are also expected to benefit from additional loan schemes to be introduced in the next fiscal year.

Copyright Jamaica-Gleaner.com

[Karl]

Banana jobs saved
Gov't guarantees prevent collapse of industryBALFORD HENRY, Observer writer
balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, November 19, 2007


Prime Minister Bruce Golding and wife Lorna arrive at the National Arena for the Jamaica Labour Party's 64th annual conference yesterday. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

THE government has stepped in to save 850 jobs in the banana export sector, Prime Minister Bruce Golding announced yesterday.
He said that the Cabinet has also voted on an additional $500 million for emergency road repairs by Christmas, increasing to $1.5 billion the total amount it has made available.

The prime minister was speaking at the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) first annual conference since winning the September 3 general election, at the National Arena in Kingston.

In a wide-ranging speech to a huge crowd, slightly less than last November's record turnout for the pre-election conference, the prime minister warned supporters not to be intimidated by the high expectations of the people, nor to lose their humility.
"Let none of us clothe ourselves with power. Let none of us get up and talk as if we have power. We don't have any power. The power resides in the people of Jamaica, who have put it in our hands to be used in their name and for their benefit and for their purpose," Golding said.

"You have a new bus. You have a new driver, but the road is still rough," he cautioned the crowd. However, he said that he had a hard-working team which was responding to the needs of the people.

Turning to the immediate issues affecting his administration, Golding said that because of the banana industry's battering from the past three hurricanes, the government was faced with the possibility of the export sector shutting down.

He noted that some 800 workers employed to Eastern Banana and St Mary Banana were about to be made redundant.

"We couldn't afford to have banana workers, some 800 of them, facing that kind of Christmas. This government that I lead was not elected to throw people out of jobs. We were elected to create jobs and, therefore, we had to intervene," he explained.

Minister of Agriculture and Lands, Dr Christopher Tufton, later explained to the Observer that the jobs of 850 workers employed to Eastern Banana Estates Limited in St Thomas and St Mary Banana Estates Limited in Annotto Bay, whose posts were scheduled to be made redundant last week, were saved by the government's intervention.

The Cabinet is understood to have provided guarantees for the industry to save it from the closures which, according to Dr Tufton, "would have meant the end of banana exports."

Hurricane Ivan in 2004 wiped out 100 per cent of the banana industry. After restoration, hurricanes Dennis and Emily knocked out 60 per cent in 2005. The following restoration was knocked out 100 per cent again by Hurricane Dean in August this year.

Golding also announced that hurricane relief for over 50,000 households affected by Hurricane Dean will start this week.

Over $1 billion will be given out for assistance, ranging from $10,000 for minor damage to $60,000 for destroyed houses.

He noted that $750 million had been sent out to secondary schools to cover tuition fees for September 2007, of which some $400 million should be returned to parents.

He reiterated the JLP's commitment to end hospital registration fees as of next April. However, he expressed concerns about the current treatment of some persons seeking attention at the hospitals and promised to rebuild the primary health care sector.

In terms of energy, the prime minister said that the government will have to look more closely at renewable energy to ensure that in 10 years no more than 50 per cent of Jamaica's energy needs should be filled by imported oil.

He also reiterated the party's commitment to provide additional resources for the Jamaica Constabulary Force, including personnel and equipment.
However, he said that the government was awaiting the appointment of a new commissioner as well as the reorganisation of the police force based on the proposals from the strategic review which, he said, combined with better use of resources should increase the capability of the force to tackle crime.

He also promised a revolution in local agriculture to encourage rural development and stem the rural-urban drift, as part of a national development plan.

He also promised special loan facilities for small- and medium-sized businesses, as well as increased training for the labour force through HEART/NTA and a 'speed-up' of the labour reform process.

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