JEEP phase II to cost $6b

TRANSPORT, Works and Housing Minister Dr Omar Davies announced yesterday that phase II of the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP) will be funded to the tune of some $6 billion.

Davies, who opened the Sectoral Debate yesterday in Parliament said JEEP, in its second phase, would be implemented by several ministries and government agencies such as the HEART Trust/NTA, the National Works Agency and the National Housing Trust.

The minister also divulged that the Government would be working with Food for the Poor to construct 600 block-and-steel starter units. The project would be carried out jointly by Food for the Poor under JEEP.

Beneficiaries will be drawn from the NHT's list of contributors earning below $7500 per week.

Turning to the transport sector, Davies divulged yesterday that the Government has terminated an initiative by the previous administration which involved the shipping of buses to Brazil to be refurbished.

He said the shipping cost for each bus was US$25,000 and the actual cost of refurbishing each bus was US$100,000.