Industry Ministry continues assessment of hurricane damage to businesses

 

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Senator Aubyn Hill says the ministry is conducting a comprehensive assessment of hurricane damage to small and medium-sized businesses in western Jamaica. 

 

Speaking in the Senate on Friday, Senator Hill said his ministry has recruited more than 200 volunteers to conduct the assessment across the hardest hit parishes, including St. James, Westmoreland, Trelawny, St. Elizabeth, Manchester and St. Ann. 

 

He said due to the lack of electricity, officials of the ministry have been providing generators to small businesses in a bid to help them restart their operations. 

 

Senator Hill disclosed that more than 1,000 small businesses have been impacted by the deadly storm.

 

"A total of 1,293 businesses were assessed during the period of November 10 to December 1, 2025. I want to stop there and let you understand what that means. Sometimes we didn't have roads. Roads had to be cleared and moved. We certainly in the first few days didn't have connectivity, but we had to get out there and get it done. And 602 businesses were assessed during week one, 592 in week two, and 99 during week three." 

 

Some 262 of the businesses assessed were located in Trelawny, 285 in Hanover, 109 in St. Elizabeth, 201 businesses were assessed in Westmoreland, and 436 businesses in St. James.

 

In the meantime, Senator Hill told the Upper House that the country has adequate supply of food to meet the demands of businesses.

 

"You can't continue to give out care packages forever. People must get back to businesses. And there's a reason why we do that. The supply chain... is vital. You have big distributors. I went to, for instance, Grace's warehouse. They showed me that they had enough for between seven weeks and six months. And while I was there, more merchandise was coming in. So we have had enough food and stuff to go around," he insisted.

 

Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness told to the House of Representatives last week that more than 600 generators are now in store to distribute to small businesses without power following the passage of the hurricane.