By Gareth Davis, Gleaner WriterPORT ANTONIO:
IN AN attempt to speed up the recovery process for persons ravaged by Hurricane Ivan, a number of registration centres have been opened to residents in Portland.
The registration centres were opened on Tuesday and will provide the base for the filtering of information to the Portland Parish Council through the parish disaster team.
"This process is expected to function more speedily," said Franklyn Smith, coordinator for the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) and secretary of the Parish Council. "The process has been streamlined, as indications were that operations were somewhat lagging. We have now increased field personnel so as to create transparency and accountability."
Mr. Smith noted that the recovery process was slow and that many residents were becoming irate. He said the system now in place would react more speedily to provide assistance to persons whose homes and property were badly damaged. He also said the system would provide the base for recommendation so that compensation would be made available to those affected.
"The Welfare Ministry personnel are out in the field making assessment and recommendations which will determine what assistance is to be given to persons affected by the hurricane," he added.
The process will also involve registration of persons who were affected by the hurricane, verification and assessment, after which they will receive vouchers to be taken to designated suppliers, who in turn will hand out building material.
