JAMAICAN RELIEF MAY FLY SOON AID OFFICIAL, POLITICIANS TRY TO CUT THROUGH RED TAPE.(Local)

Byline: Jeannie H. Cross United Press International

Jamaican relief supplies that are piling up across the state could be cleared for takeoff next week, an official at the U.S. agency that has so far blocked the shipments said Thursday.

Also Thursday, a manager at Air Jamaica blasted the U.S. State Department for preventing New York from immediately flying supplies to the hurricane-battered island aboard a National Guard plane, adding that his and other commercial airlines don't have room for the material.

"The outpouring of material, money, everything (for the hard-hit island) has been gratifying, and look at what you get. You get red tape. Nothing …