World Bank outlines US$8.8 billion in hurricane damage to Jamaica

 

The World Bank says Hurricane Melissa has delivered a crushing blow to Jamaica, where the physical damage estimated at US$8.8 billion or 41% of the country's entire GDP last year.

 

Officials say the scale of destruction surpasses anything seen in recent history, and warn that economic recovery will be enormous and long-term.

 

Losses from tourism, business closures and reduced sales are expected to be just as severe or even greater. 

 

World Bank Country Director Lilia Burunciuc says the assessment was carried out with support from the Inter-American Development Bank and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, led by the Planning Institute of Jamaica.

 

Ms. Burunciuc says St. Elizabeth, St. James and Westmoreland and were the hardest hit, suffering from US$5.5 billion or 63% of total damage.

 

She noted that the damage was assessed in four categories - residential buildings, non-residential buildings, infrastructure and agriculture.

 

"The first one, residential building damages account for US$3.7 billion. And this is 41% of the total estimated damages. And this is the largest category of damages. It includes houses and their contents and also includes mixed-use buildings which are characterised as residential. The second category is non-residential buildings and they have contents damage. It accounts for 20% of the total damage equal to US$1.8 billion. And this includes commercial, industrial, tourism, public buildings and non-residential qualified as mixed-use buildings and their contents," Ms. Burunciuc explained.

 

Infrastructure losses alone stand at US$2.9 billion, and includes power networks, water networks, telecoms, seaports, jetties, coastal structures, airports, roads, bridges and equipment.

 

Agriculture took a US$389 million hit, with notable damage to the fishing sector, livestock, dairy, cash crops, vegetables, and fruit trees.