Some St James residents yet to be contacted on housing benefits post-Melissa

WESTERN BUREAU:

Six months after Hurricane Melissa unleashed its fury on western Jamaica, residents of some communities in rural St James have still not got the housing assistance they were promised to rebuild their homes, leaving the properties in disrepair.

In February, the Government launched its Restoration of Owner or Occupant Family Shelters (ROOFS) programme under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS), which saw $10 billion being allocated to help residents whose homes were significantly impacted by Melissa, to rebuild their houses through grants ranging from $75,000 for minor damage to $500,000 for severe verified damage.

Janette Cameron, a resident of Canaan district in St James, told The Gleaner on Monday that although she had heard of persons passing through her community to assess the damage done to several homes by the Category 5 hurricane, she was never contacted with any offer of ROOFS-related assistance.

“Since Melissa, my windows and the ceiling and most of the zinc are gone. When the rain falls, the house is leaking, and I put a tarpaulin up there on the roof, but it got torn up. Even the concrete area on my side, a church brother of mine came and did a little decking there, and it is not done properly because it was leaking before, and it is still leaking, and we have to be sweeping out water,” lamented Cameron.

“My daughter said some persons had come by in our area, but I never got any call, nothing at all. I have been asking for assistance for myself from a long time now, but I am not getting any help so far. It is just promises, promises, promises,” added Cameron.

Tashae Kerr, of Chatham district, shared a similar tale of a lack of assistance for herself, her relatives, and her neighbours, whose houses suffered varying levels of damage from Melissa.

LACK OF ASSISTANCE

“I did not sign up for the grant, but my grandma did, and she did not get any assistance. For me, my side window was damaged, and it is still the same way even now, and we simply put a board there. My aunt and uncle’s house was flattened during the storm, and they both applied for the help and got no desired outcome,” said Kerr.

“Persons are complaining that they signed up and nothing came out of it, so I said it was a good thing I did not waste my time. Also, I am hearing that the persons who lost their houses, or their houses were partially damaged and they fixed them, they are not getting anything because they fixed their houses. I am wondering if persons were expected to sleep in the damaged houses up until now, which does not make sense,” continued Kerr.

In March, similar concerns were raised by Heatha Miller-Bennett and Andrea Purkiss, the two members of parliament in Hanover who said that several of their constituents were still homeless and yet to receive any ROOFS benefits.

They also challenged claims by Labour and Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles Jr that more than $330 million in ROOFS grants had been distributed in Hanover up to that time.

When contacted for a comment on the St James residents’ concerns, Charles said that while residents taking the initiative to fix their homes themselves was commendable, eligibility for ROOFS-related aid depends on confirmation of damage to affected homes. He noted that more than 114,000 households had been assessed under the ROOFS programme to date, of which 42,617 households had been fully verified and had been issued text messages or vouchers to redeem their grants.

“There is no policy that disqualifies a household simply because they took initiative to begin repairs. However, eligibility is based on verified damage and completed assessment, and the programme must ensure that support goes to those who meet the criteria based on objective verification,” said Charles.

“We are aware that in some rural communities, access challenges, communication gaps, and data inconsistencies have contributed to delays. As part of this reconciliation phase, targeted follow-ups are being conducted, and persons who believe they were assessed but not contacted are encouraged to reach out so their records can be reviewed and corrected promptly,” Charles added.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com