UK, Jamaica sign four-year partnership for Melissa reconstruction

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica and the United Kingdom (UK) have signed a four-year partnership aimed at accelerating reconstruction following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa and strengthening the island’s resilience to future disasters.

According to a release, the government-to-government partnership was signed on Sunday, November 1, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua and Barbuda by UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith.

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The initiative will begin with a £10-million, one-year programme, funded equally by the UK and Jamaican governments. While UK funding has been confirmed for the first year, financing for subsequent years will be addressed as the programme develops.