PNP MPs say gov’t’s Hurricane Melissa response slow and inadequate

People’s National Party (PNP) Members of Parliament in Westmoreland, Hanover, and St Elizabeth have accused the Government of being lacking in its response to residents affected by Hurricane Melissa, which hit the country a month ago.

The MPs, speaking at a PNP press conference Tuesday morning, stated that the level of relief activities in their areas has been inadequate and that the $10 million allocation per constituency by the Government is nowhere near enough to meet the needs on the ground.

They cited food and housing as critical needs for residents.

Westmoreland Eastern MP Dr Dayton Campbell reported that about 5,000 homes were destroyed in his constituency and said that private-sector groups, NGOs, and individual donors have been doing more than the Government to support residents.

“It will take a long time for them to return to normalcy,” Campbell said, adding that what is being proposed is totally insufficient to meet the needs that are there.

Westmoreland Central MP Dwayne Vaz said he, too, is in a similar situation.

Vaz said the allocation translates to “100 people getting $100,000 each,” which he described as unrealistic given the scale of damage.

Vaz said residents are requesting housing solutions, especially since many of the temporary structures were destroyed.

He said that lack of land ownership plays a hand in the types of wooden houses that existed.

He also criticised reports that relief packages were distributed from the home of a known Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) activist, calling it inappropriate during a national emergency.

Vaz argued that it does not appear to the Government that the country is in a crisis.

And Ian Hayles, the MP for Westmoreland Western, in his contribution, argued that it has been one month since the hurricane and four weeks before Christmas, yet the Government’s response remains slow.

He claimed that damage assessments are happening mainly in JLP-leaning communities, suggesting political bias.

“We have to do better as a country,” Hayles said, urging the Government to work with MPs to get people “back under a roof” within the next month.

Like Campbell and Vaz, he called for better distribution of care packages and called for the Government to move quickly to address the housing issue.

Those sentiments were echoed by Hanover Western MP Heather Miller-Bennett and Andrea Purkess of Hanover Eastern, who claimed that the parish has been forgotten in the national recovery effort.

The MPs argued that residents are still living in crisis conditions one month after the hurricane.

“It is clear that the Government has forgotten Hanover,” declared Miller-Bennett.

According to her, about 8,000 families are suffering, while the official allocation of $10 million per constituency is “a drop in the bucket” compared to the damage.

She described the Government’s assessments as “patchy, patchy” and unacceptable, noting that some residents are now living in their cars.

She criticised what she called a lack of coordination, highlighting that caretakers and state ministers are distributing care packages without any dialogue with sitting MPs.

“We are at the phase now where people need homes. They need somewhere stable to live. They need a roof over their heads,” she said.

In Hanover Eastern, Purkess said the situation is equally dire, reporting that 5,000 homes in her constituency are without roofs, while farms, schools, and health centres have been destroyed.

Perkess said residents have been “forced to take on the work of the Government.”

She said Hanover Eastern is facing a public health crisis and urged the authorities to “cut out the PR and get to the people,” calling for immediate attention to the situation surrounding schools that are being used as shelters.

Both MPs stated that they are being undermined as elected officials, claiming that politics is at play in the relief activities.

They argued that Government representatives, including state ministers and political operatives, are carrying out relief activities without coordination, while the core needs of residents remain unmet.

Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth North East, Zuleika Jess, also raised concerns about the distribution of aid and care packages in her constituency and pointed a finger at politics.

Jess argued that she, too, feels sidelined in the recovery activities.

She said many residents continue to suffer and are in need of supplies such as food and building materials for housing.

She further said that the condition of roads is another critical issue that needs to be addressed urgently.

She said more funding is needed to bring help to those who are suffering.

For his part, PNP President Mark Golding has accused the Government of failing to include the Opposition in the national relief and recovery activities.

Golding said the country is facing a crisis, and all hands are needed to pull the country together.

He said the Opposition is willing to play its part and called for the Government to be inclusive and equitable in its actions.

- Andre Williams

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