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Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Desmond McKenzie, said that the cleanup initiative will be rolled out later this week. “A part of any recovery must be keeping our cities, towns and communities clean,” he said, adding that the initiative would be led by the National Solid Waste Management Authority alongside the National Works Agency and Social Development Commission (SDC) and the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information. “The SDC will be responsible for coordinating community activities throughout, and this will be a call for national duty, for national response. The country will require the full support [and] participation of all Jamaicans in this exercise,” he said. McKenzie emphasised the importance of unity in the recovery process. “This is the time when all of Jamaica [should come together],” he said, “and I am going to be reaching out to my opposition counterpart to invite her to the meeting to discuss the cleanup exercise, because we are taking a national approach,” he added. Water supplies have been restored to 65% of the customer network and the National Water Commission said it hoped to reach 80% before the weekend. With the hardest-hit areas suffering from the lack of clean water for washing or drinking, the government issued warnings about the dangers of waterborne diseases. Fundraising concerts Donations to help with the cost of the relief efforts have been coming in from the international community and the Jamaican government hopes to boost that with a series of fundraising concerts. Two concerts are planned for London and Florida while additional events are being planned in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. Several Jamaican and international artists have expressed interest in participating in live concerts overseas or contributing through endorsement messages, said Entertainment Minister Olivia Grange, while notable names from the Jamaican music industry including Chris Martin, Masicka and Nigy Boy have already been confirmed for a virtual concert and telethon on 16 Nov.
