Several containers have been loaded and are being sent to hurricane-ravaged Jamaica, from Trinidad and Tobago.

It is the first shipment of supplies to be sent by this country, since the devastating hurricane Melissa.

Yesterday Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar visited the Phlipdeco warehouse complex, where the loading was being conducted.

The prime minister is convinced, the people of Jamaica will rebuild in quick time.

She has created an inter-ministerial committee to oversee aid to Jamaica, which she called her second home.

The committee is being led by Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister, Sean Sobers.

The minister said, Trinidad and Tobago students, who were unable to come home, have been reached and they are safe.

Jamaica’s information minister Dana Morris Dixon yesterday, told the media at least 19 people have died as a result of hurricane Melissa

The minister also said, search and rescue efforts continue, and authorities try to get aid to hard-hit areas.

The hurricane, one of the most powerful to strike the Caribbean, has also killed at least 30 people in Haiti.

Electricity remains out, to most of the island and as people try to salvage damaged homes and belongings from, floodwaters and mud, many thousands are growing increasingly desperate for aid.

There are parts of the country that have been without water, for several days.

In the French speaking Caricom member state, Haiti, at least 23 deaths have been recorded – 10 of them children – largely due to flooding after days of relentless rain, despite the country avoiding a direct hit.

The storm also claimed one life in the Dominican Republic.