The St. Elizabeth Chamber of Commerce has promised to assist persons who were affected by Hurricane Ivan, and to make donations of relief. This was disclosed by the president of the Chamber, Dr. Marc Panton, at a joint forum of the St. Elizabeth Parish Development Committee and the Chamber at the Parish Council Meeting Room on Thursday, September 23.

"There are three areas that are of serious concern and will have to be addressed in the short term," Dr. Panton said. "Education, Public Health and the contribution of relief items are critical to the parish at this time and should therefore be managed effectively and with urgency."

Referring to the current assessment of individual damage done in the parish, Alfred Daley, parish manager of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security's, Black River office said some 2,000 persons have been assessed so far.

According to him the assessment team in the field was under severe pressure as they tried to cope with the volume of work. Among the problems identified were sanitation, mosquito infestation, lack of portable water for consumption and the lack of directional guidance from some agencies. However, less than five days after the hurricane the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) had coordinated and distributed several relief items, which included bleach, bottled water and other household goods.

SOURCE: http://www.golocaljamaica.com/readarticle.php?ArticleID=3415