‘NOT FOR THE GREEDY’
PM warns against abuse of shelter relief grants in hurricane recovery
Published:Friday | January 16, 2026 | 12:12 AMLivern Barrett/Senior Staff Reporter
A new state programme to assist some of the most vulnerable families who were displaced by Hurricane Melissa is geared towards the needy and “not the greedy”, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has warned.
Holness also appealed to beneficiaries of the Shelter Relief Programme (SRP) to use the government-issued grants for the purposes they are intended.
Under the SRP, persons whose homes sustained severe, major, or minor damage are eligible for grants ranging from $75,000 to $500,000 to cover roof replacement and other repairs.
The prime minister estimated that 90 per cent of beneficiaries are going to use the money for the intended purposes before indicating that his appeal was directed to the remaining 10 per cent “that is going to create the problem”.
“The experience we have had is that there are persons who are going to say, ‘Well, you know, I’m going to wait from the money from abroad and what I’m going to do with this.’ It might be a noble thing such as school fee or it may go to support the local bar,” Holness said during the launch of the SRP at Jamaica House in St Andrew yesterday.
Holness acknowledged that for him and Finance Minister Fayval Williams, “this is all economic activity” but said that from a moral and national recovery standpoint, “we need to see the roofs go back on”.
“Because we know what is going to happen: the same people who got it are going to turn around and say, ‘the Government never gave us anything’ or ‘what the Government gave us was too little, so what you expect?’,” he added.
“So I’m appealing to those persons who have it in dem head already, please use the grants for the purpose for which it was given. It’s a lot of money [and] it’s taxpayers’ money.”
Noting that the SRP does not include commercial buildings, the prime minister disclosed that owners of multiple houses could only get one benefit.
“This is not for the greedy; this is for the needy. I have to be clear on that. This is why we do an assessment. We take your TRN, we make sure you are uniquely identified so that you can’t get a benefit here and then come over and get another benefit there,” he said.
Recovery stage
The SRP reflects the Government’s transition from primarily relief efforts to the recovery stage, nearly three months after the deadly Category 5 Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica.
Forty-five people were killed and hundreds of thousands of buildings destroyed mainly across mid-island and western parishes, the authorities have confirmed.
The Government has already completed approximately 70,000 household assessments, affecting over 200,000 people, according to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr said 18 per cent of those assessed experienced severe damage to their homes while 40 per cent experienced major damage.
Approximately 42 per cent had minor damage.
Holness and Charles also warned that authorities are aware of scams that involve the collection of a fee to enroll potential beneficiaries in the SRP.
They insisted that there is no fee to sign up and appealed to potential beneficiaries to get details from government departments and agencies.
“There is no intermediary. Let me make that point clear: The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is not hiring anyone, any agent, any intermediary to help you to get the grant,” Holness said.