Prime Minister Andrew Holness has outlined a series of measures and a comprehensive plan to combat the outbreak of dengue fever and protect the health and well-being of the Jamaican people.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday (October 10, 2023), Prime Minister Holness announced that an additional 331 million dollars would be allocated to assist in combating the dengue outbreak in the country.
The Government’s initiative comes in the wake of an increase in the number of persons with the mosquito-borne virus.
The Government will activate the national mitigation plan based on vector mapping to be executed through the local authorities.
“This $331 million comprises $96 million to the Municipal Corporations to support the mitigation works to be undertaken across the island, $160 million to the National Works Agency (NWA) to coordinate the cleaning of major drains in the high-risk communities, and $75 million to the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) for the removal of bulky waste from targeted communities,” said Prime Minister Holness.
The Prime Minister unveiled a multifaceted strategy to ensure that educational institutions have some capacity to respond with mosquito control measures.
Seventy million dollars will be made available through the Ministry of Education and Youth to focus specifically on the clean-up of schools through the NSWMA.
Additionally, Prime Minister Holness introduced a Street-to-Street Community Clean-Up Campaign.
“I am announcing an allocation of $2 million on a Street-to-Street Community Clean-Up Campaign for each constituency to focus on bulky waste removal from communities and households which are the most likely areas in which persons may be bitten by mosquitoes,” the Prime Minister said.
Prime Minister Holness also emphasized that the Clean-Up Campaign would address combatting dengue fever and is also indicative of the government’s commitment to establishing a cleaner and safer environment for our citizens.
The Prime Minister called on every Jamaican to unite and collaborate to tackle the threat of dengue fever.
