NHT processes $2.9 billion in hurricane relief grants

The National Housing Trust (NHT) has processed 7,600 applications under its Hurricane Melissa Disaster Relief Grant programme, amounting to approximately $2.9 billion in assistance to affected Jamaicans.

The grant, which amounted up to $500,000, was extended beyond NHT mortgage customers to include contributors generally, with allocations being assessed based on need and level of impact.

Assistant General Manager for Corporate Communications and Public Affairs at the NHT, Dwayne Berbick, told JIS News that the expansion allowed more people to benefit from the assistance, including contributors whose relatives in hurricane-affected communities were in need of support.

“The funding is used for a combination of things, from buying building material to paying workmen,” Berbick explained.

“Most people use it to repair roofs that were damaged during the passage of the hurricane and some NHT mortgagors use it to assist with their peril insurance claims, putting the funds towards what we call an excess that is required as part of the claims process.”

The facility prioritised those unable to take on additional borrowing, including pensioners and other vulnerable groups; and formed part of five major measures introduced by the Trust following Hurricane Melissa to assist homeowners and other affected Jamaicans.

Although applications for the disaster relief grant closed at the end of July, Berbick said the NHT remains willing to consider exceptional cases where individuals have a critical need for assistance.

“Given the organisation the NHT is, if there are really extreme cases out there that still require support, we would be willing to look at it and to see how we can assist,” Berbick said.

The NHT has spent more than $13 billion across the five initiatives, which also include the activation of its comprehensive homeowner’s insurance policy, a mortgage payment moratorium, hurricane recovery and resilience loans, and the procurement of 2,500 semi-permanent modular homes.

- JIS

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