Jamaica: Macro-Socio-Economic and Environmental Assessment of ...

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be essential such as school book, meals and uniform grants (including shoe
grants) as many children walk to school in the rural areas;
• Model starter homes, built to standards which will resist the devastation of
hurricane force winds, should be built as demonstration units for communities,
many of whom will be involved in self help projects to rebuild their communities
should be coupled to appropriate location and hazard mapping to avoid locating
these in heavily exposed areas.
• Projects which support public health and sanitation education should be supported
to reduce the burden on the health system and given the damage to health
facilities improve existing ones and repair the damaged ones with higher
standards.
• In the aftermath of a natural disaster, attention needs to be paid to the psychosocial
trauma of the affected population. Such support is required for all persons
affected but particularly the most vulnerable: the women and children in the rural
communities. It is also an opportune moment to introduce disaster prevention and
mitigation education.
The impact of the natural disaster on the economy should not alter the present course of
economic policy. Reconstruction investment must be appropriately programmed over
time and paired with external resources in the form of donations or concesionary loans.
The Authorities should are also aware that in smaller economies fiscal policy is tied to
the external and foreign exchange constraint. It is important to articulate and coordinate
fiscal aims with an external balance where export performance is coupled with
appropriate financial flows and remittances. In this sense the prompt recovery of
agriculture and the expected continuing dynamism of mining and tourism are of
paramount importance for creating a growth enabling macroeconomic context.
4. A list of projects suggested for consideration
What follows is a list of projects identified by the government suggested for funding.
They arise from the discussions as raised in the document. Some of them are already
taken into account under the current post-disaster estimated budget, as follows:
• Reconstruction projects: US$7.03 million.
• Additional government expenditure (pre-Ivan): J$2.3 billion.
• Expenditure for reconstruction needs: J$4.8 billion.
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