SENIOR United Nations (UN) official Dennis Zulu on Friday said cash transfers and housing assistance to the most vulnerable will be how the initial US$2.5 million in emergency funds which has so far been made available to the Jamaican Government in the wake of Hurricane Beryl will be used.

Speaking at a virtual news conference on Friday, Zulu, who is the UN resident coordinator for Jamaica, The Bahamas, Bermuda, The Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands, said the UN has already communicated its readiness to support the Government of Jamaica and was happy to know that the “Government is very receptive to UN support and goodwill”.

Stating that this acceptance paved the way for the UN to now be able “to stage an appropriate and tailored response”, Zulu said, “We already secured access to US$2.5 million from the emergency response fund with a potential for expanded support, depending on Government’s assessment and priorities.”

“Some of what we are looking at is getting some of the money out there in terms of income support, because some of the people who have been affected have lost livelihoods, so we are really looking towards supporting them in terms of some cash transfers, definitely shelter is one thing we are looking at because some of their buildings and houses have been destroyed; [and] ensuring the provision of clean drinking water so we don’t have an outbreak of disease,” he told the briefing.

He said the UN was also looking at the potential for support in terms of getting access to communication data.

“We are supporting the Government to get its systems back in place as quickly as possible,” said Zulu, while noting that the UN has over the years been working with Jamaica in order to build resilience to climate change effects.

“We really need to work towards putting systems in place to ensure that there is an element of resilience built into this. The fact that Jamaica has sort of done quite well in managing the after-effects of Beryl shows that a lot of work has been done in building out of capacity to be able to deal with natural disasters such as this and is adequately prepared for any subsequent disasters,” he said.

Zulu, who said the UN has observed “the very responsive and competent Government which makes its work easier”, stated “Jamaica is obviously very central to the region’s economy and the UN is poised to complement the work of the Government to accelerate Jamaica’s ability to be back on its own feet”.

He told the briefing that the UN has activated its emergency task team which has been advising the UN country team on the needs of the Government in areas of such as protection, water sanitation and hygiene, education, shelters, logistics and health and nutrition, and, of course, early recovery for security and telecommunications.

“We also are in direct contact with the key government ministries that are leading the rapid ongoing assessment to direct the UN in its emergency response and we are also working in coordination with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, which is the regional emergency and disaster response agency in ensuring a coherent emergency response. We are therefore poised to mount a coordinated response with the international development partner community and we are already engaging international partners in Jamaica and International NGOS and we hope that this will be finalized in the coming few days,” Zulu said further.

He, in the meantime, noted that while the cost the disaster left behind has not yet been fully articulated, the Jamaican Government is ongoing with its assessment.

“The damage is widely apparent and felt by persons from all walks of life, especially in rural Jamaica, the southern parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and St Elizabeth, and those in vulnerable housing,” Zulu stated.