Hurricane relief audit shows $1.4b in donations barely spent as Parliament, culture and health dominate the week

Four months after Hurricane Melissa tore through southern and western Jamaica, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management had spent less than two per cent of more than $1.44 billion in public cash donations, according to a real-time audit tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis reported that, as of 23 February this year, ODPM had disbursed only $26 million of the $1.44 billion received. The agency told her office that releases were stalled because the Ministry of Finance had not authorised spending. Melissa struck in October 2025, killing at least 45 people and causing more than US$12 billion in damage. The audit also flagged unspent balances linked to Hurricane Beryl in July 2024, pointing to recurring weaknesses in how disaster donations are handled.

Among other findings, nearly $34 million of $122.5 million in building supplies sent to Jamaica Defence Force sites lacked signed delivery records. Opposition Senator Cleveland Tomlinson called it “unconscionable and scandalous” that donated money sat idle while families still sheltered under tents. Government Senator Marlon Morgan defended the administration and cited billions in state-funded recovery work, while pressing the case for a National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority to speed rebuilding.

Speaker Juliet Holness halted opposition MP Nikha Burchil’s bid to open her sectoral debate in Jamaican Patois on Wednesday, citing standing orders that require English in the House. Burchil later argued in standard English for year-round cultural programming, citing the global reach of American creator IShow Speed’s recent visit.

Broadcaster Fae Ellington criticised vulgar reworkings of the folk melody Gilli Dolly Ride tied to producer Steven “Genius” McGregor’s revived rhythm, while promoter Ibrahim Conte urged curriculum inclusion rather than condemnation. Kingston Mayor Andrew Swaibbe said a suggestive “Rude Boy” tonic-wine billboard in Rockfort was removed for planning breaches, not backlash; St. Catherine’s municipal corporation said it will vet ads through a new ethics committee.

Former University Hospital of the West Indies board chairman Wayne Chai Chong told Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee he resigned in December 2023 after Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton overruled the board on acting CEO Fitzgerald Mitchell’s replacement. Tufton announced public-health accountability reforms from 1 June and plans for a national fertility strategy as Jamaica’s rate falls to about 1.3 children per woman, well below the 2.1 replacement level.

Thirteen-year-old Excelsior High student Chamilleia Paul remains in a coma at Kingston Public Hospital after an alleged stabbing last week in Bayshore Park, near Harbour View, while trying to stop a domestic dispute. Relatives named the alleged attacker as Kemar Mitchell and are appealing for blood and surgical supplies.

In other news, dancehall artist Flipper Mafia, born Andrew Davis, faces US federal drug conspiracy charges alongside three others. Two St. Catherine residents were each fined $200,000 for moving 180 pineapples without Rural Agricultural Development Authority receipts. President Donald Trump has nominated Republican figure Kari Lake as United States ambassador to Jamaica, subject to Senate confirmation.