National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang has announced that the Ministry of Culture will be increasing from $13 million to $30 million the money in a trust fund to compensate survivors of the Coral Gardens incident, or their families.
It has been revealed that $13 million of the proposed $102 million dollars to compensate survivors of the Coral Gardens incident, or their families, is now in a trust fund.
However, there has been a delay in its disbursement.
The monetary proposal was made by Prime Minister Andrew Holness after apologising on behalf of the government in the House of Representatives in 2017 for the actions of the State at Coral Gardens in St. James in 1963.
“I think part of the short delay is that it was registered first as the Coral Gardens trust and the brothers and sisters have asked that Rastafari be included in that and that laws be put in place to that effect ....... the trust fund is an important part of what we are doing,” said Chang who explained the delay in disbursing the funds to the trust fund.
He also gave a commitment to ensure that the compensation package proposed by the government to the Rastafari community in Coral Gardens is delivered.
Dr Chang says an old age home will be acquired in Coral Gardens for the elderly.
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