Emergency relief supplies provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for Hurricane Melissa in southwestern Jamaica have been delivered to the country.
The emergency relief supplies to be provided to Jamaica arrived in Kingston on November 5. A ceremony was held at Norman Manley International Airport at 16:30 (local time) on the same day, attended by the Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Desmond Mackenzie, and the Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Sheila Sheety Montis from the Jamaican side, and Ambassador Yasuhiro Atsumi of Japan to Jamaica, and Mr. Atsushi Nakagawa, JICA Branch Director of Jamaica, from the Japanese side. The ceremony was attended by the Ambassador of Japan to Jamaica, Yasuhiro Atsumi, and Mr. Atsushi Nakagawa, Director of the JICA Jamaica office.
At the handover ceremony, Minister Mackenzie expressed his deep appreciation for Japan’s prompt assistance and stated that the goods would be used for the livelihood and reconstruction of the many people affected by the disaster. He also stated that the digital radio communication system provided by JICA’s grant aid “Emergency Communication System Improvement Plan” (to be delivered in April 2024) was extremely useful for prompt and accurate information transmission at the time of the disaster. Ambassador Atsumi expressed his hope that Japan would stand by the people of Jamaica not only in the event of a disaster, but also in the recovery and reconstruction phase, and that the relief supplies provided this time would be put to good use.
The relief supplies provided this time will be delivered to the victims by the government of the country.
Relief supplies arriving at Norman Manley Airport
Handover ceremony (from left to right: Minister McKenzie, Ambassador Atsumi, and Undersecretary Montis)
© Source JICA