Editorial | From Melissa to national renewal

After the massive destruction it caused in the west of the island in late October, the most powerful story of Hurricane Melissa is not bureaucratic. It is of something deeply human upon which Jamaica can, and should, build. The category 5 storm unleashed a wave of solidarity – domestically and global.

Within hours, private citizens, Jamaicans abroad, regional partners, international agencies, musical artistes, churches, alumni groups and corporate entities mobilised to provide assistance to the scores of thousands of people whose lives were upended by the powerful storm. Diaspora groups did not wait for instructions. They organised themselves. Relief supplies were gathered, aircraft chartered, and goods shipped from cities such as Ft Lauderdale, New York, Toronto, London and Birmingham – water, food, medical supplies, feminine hygiene products, generators, tarpaulins and baby essentials.

What was remarkable was not the speed of the mobilisation and the volume of goods and services that have been supplied, but the coordination, and emotional intensity of that response.

All this added positively to the starting point for the broader recovery and rebuilding. Indeed, while the Jamaican state stumbled initially, with some of its institutions showing real deficiencies, it soon found a way to bend, adapt, and respond. Emergency coordination systems were activated, shelters were opened, security forces deployed, and international partnerships engaged. The establishment of central coordination platforms and the facilitation of diaspora relief channels deserve real recognition.

MOBILISED RESOURCES

At the same time, multilaterals, regional bodies and bilateral partners mobilised resources in days, not weeks. The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), international humanitarian groups, and donor governments moved quickly. This was not the slow diplomacy of normal times. They showed speed, and practical solidarity.

Economically, Jamaica entered the disaster with a relatively stable macroeconomic position: modest, but positive GDP growth projection (around one to three per cent projected for 2025); improved debt dynamics compared to a decade ago; and sound fiscal discipline. That foundation gave Jamaica credibility when asking for help, and confidence to the foreign partners who provided it.

All this should be seen, not as charity, but as a form of strategic national capital. Everything must be done to recognise, preserve and build it.

Indeed, few countries possess a diaspora so emotionally invested, operationally capable, and financially willing to act at speed to support citizens at home. This is a geopolitical asset that most countries would envy.

The task now is to convert this extraordinary solidarity into structured national renewal, in a country with a serious problem of criminal violence, notoriously low levels of trust, and facing serious questions about its quality of governance.

The first strategic move must be to institutionalise this goodwill.

The government has already started the process of establishing a series of national bodies to drive the post-hurricane reconstruction effort, about which this newspaper has commented. It is very important that Jamaica finds a way to integrate the diaspora into this framework, not as a symbolic add-on, but as part of the machinery.

So, diaspora bonds, structured contribution platforms, transparent project-level tracking, and formal partnerships with overseas Jamaican associations should become permanent features of national resilience planning. Melissa has clearly shown that Jamaicans abroad are not just emotional stakeholders. They are operational partners.

STRATEGIC PILLAR

An important strategic pillar should be the reframing of reconstruction of the west as long-term productive investment. The estimated direct damage from the storm is estimated to be close to US$8-10 billion, or 45-50 per cent of GDP). The economy-wide losses will be much higher when livelihoods and lost output are combined.

That, on its face, is a catastrophic statistic. But it also represents one of the largest state-led investment opportunities in Jamaica’s modern history. If managed properly, this reconstruction phase can modernise infrastructure; upgrade building standards; stimulate domestic manufacturing and construction industries; accelerate renewable energy deployment; and improve logistics and transport resilience. But the process has to be properly managed. That is why this newspaper repeats its insistence that the proposed National Resilience and Reconstruction Authority must not be manned by highly-skilled technical staff of, but must have operational independence and transparent oversight by a broad-based board of governors of people of integrity with competence in finance, engineering, construction, planning, procurement, logistics and/or similarly relevant disciplines.

The Gleaner has already highlighted the need for urgent attention to be given to the restoration of livelihoods in the affected regions: farmers who lost crops; vendors who lost stalls; taxi drivers who lost vehicles; hotel workers who lost shifts. Cash-for-work, small grants, concessional micro-credit and community contracting can simultaneously rebuild people’s dignity, the economy and, ultimately, the country.

Goodwill, though, is a fragile currency. The massive outpouring of global and diaspora support creates high expectations. This is where the government must be at its most courageous. Procurement systems must be tightened but accelerated, and transparent. Diaspora Jamaicans and global partners expect value for money. They will hold Prime Minister Andrew Holness to his word that not only will they get that value, but every dollar spent will be accounted for.

Hurricane Melissa broke structures, roads and buildings. It did not break the Jamaican spirit. Instead, it summoned an army of international partners, regional allies and ordinary citizens.

That solidarity is now one of Jamaica’s greatest assets.