$10.2B road damage reported in Jamaica following BERYL  

Jamaica: The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness stated in a recent press conference that the Jamaican roads have underwent a severe damage caused by Hurricane Beryl. The damage has so far totalled $10.2 billion, which may increase once the final assessment of these damages is completed.

The prime minister disclosed the news on Tuesday and stated that the National Work Agency (NWA) has issued the reports and this is just an estimate.

According to him, the main highways account for one-fifth of the country’s 25,000 km of roadways, with the remainder being parochial roads.

In his statement, the prime minister further stated that. “The level of maintenance required and the expenditure are significant to our primary road network. “We’re still tallying the damage to the parochial roads,”

Holness stated that many places remained inaccessible, hindering the government’s relief efforts. Significantly, he stated that all 200 main routes identified as blocked by the NWA have been cleared to allow at least single-lane travel.

The prime minister stated that the loss of infrastructure has hampered access to key services such as healthcare. He estimated that the damage to health institutions totalled $1.8 billion.

He also mentioned significant problems in electricity, water, and telecommunications services.

“The absence of these essential services has exacerbated the suffering of our people who are struggling to cope with the immediate aftermath of the storm,” The prime minister stated.

The prime minister, who toured various communities in the aftermath of the hurricane, said fishing communities in St Elizabeth and Clarendon had been severely damaged. He stated that the government would have to find resources to assist the impacted fishermen. He also stated that support will be required for operators of small businesses, such as corner stores, who have incurred significant losses.

The disastrous hurricane beryl has also significantly caused damage to other Caribbean nations causing the most damage to Grenada where the hurricane hit as a Category 5 disaster.  The Caribbean countries are trying their best to get relieved from the damage caused and they are being supported by each other for all the necessary resources.