Prime Minister Andrew Holness says an assessment of communities following the passage of Tropical Storm Grace indicates damage totalling $172 million.

The figure, he said, is an estimate submitted by the National Works Agency (NWA) to the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job creation.

He was speaking at a virtual press conference now underway at Jamaica House, in St Andrew when he made the revelation.

According to Holness, six parishes — St Mary, Kingston and St Andrew, Clarendon, Portland, and St Ann —  were badly damaged during the storm, which later developed into a Category 1 hurricane as it swept past the Cayman Islands yesterday.

He said 198 roads were damaged as a result and that the NWA is now clearing some 40 that were blocked.

He also said that the budgetary allocation will be made in short order to address this.

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