Gareth Manning and Edmond Campbell, Gleaner Writers

Prime Minister Bruce Golding has announced that the Government will this week disburse $1.5 billion to assist hurricane victims and to fix rain- ravaged road.

This is in addition to $1 billion disbursed last week to the National Works Agency and parish councils to repair roads damaged by Hurricane Dean and torrential rains in October and November.

Golding, speaking yesterday to supporters at the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) 64th annual con-ference at the National Arena, said that the extensive damage to road infrastructure had forced the Government to spend more money to effect repairs.

Housing assistance?

Golding said Government would also be offering assistance to persons whose houses were damaged. The sums to be awarded, he said, would be $10,000 for minor damage, $22,000 for severe damage and $60,000 for houses completely destroyed.

Commenting on the sharp rise in prices of basic food items, the Prime Minister made it clear that the increases were the result of a hike in the prices of oil and other items, such as wheat and corn on the international market. The price of oil jumped to nearly US$100 per barrel last week.

He said the suggestion that the Government should subsidise basic food items to reduce the burden on the consumer was not possible.

According to Golding, the Govern-ment has had to find $600 million each day to service a massive debt accumu-lated by the previous administration.

He castigated the Opposition for blaming the Government for the increase in food prices.

"The PNP suffers from intellectual depravity, it's as if termites have infected their brains, as country people use to say, 'dem dark bad'."

He said the Government would be pushing to reduce by 50 per cent the country's dependence on oil as a main source of energy, by shifting to renewable sources by 2017.

Hospital nightmare

Turning to hospital services, the Prime Minister said he was unhappy with reports about "the almshouse treatment being given to some people when they go to public hospitals".

He said notwithstanding the scarcity of resources, it was not acceptable for persons to wait for more than five hours to get attention at public hospitals.

Golding said Health Minister Rudyard Spencer has been instructed to meet with senior medical personnel to improve the level of efficiency at hospitals.

The Prime Minister also said Government was moving to rebuild secondary health-care facilities to ease the workload of public hospitals, so that they could concentrate on more serious illnesses.

The JLP leader also reported that his administration intervened to save some 800 jobs at Eastern Banana and St. Mary Banana estates, following the devastation of the banana industry by Hurricane Dean. He said the companies had planned to send home the workers in December as the crops were destroyed.

On the issue of tax reform, Golding said the authorities were moving swiftly to pull tax evaders into the net. He stressed that as part of the Government's tax reform initiative, efforts would be made to spread the tax burden more equitably.

Small and medium enterprises are also expected to benefit from additional loan schemes to be introduced in the next fiscal year.