Audit of Hurricane Melissa funds raises fresh concerns over Jamaica’s disaster recovery system

Questions over Jamaica’s disaster recovery machinery deepened after CVM’s Lead Story Prime examined the Auditor General’s real-time audit of Hurricane Melissa spending, which found that some hurricane-related funds had still not been used months after the storm.

The programme reported that the damage estimate from Melissa has been revised to about US$12.2 billion, equal to 56.7 per cent of Jamaica’s 2024 gross domestic product. It also highlighted that more than $1 billion in donated relief money remained unspent, with only $26 million of $1.4 billion reportedly used, even as some families, renters, farmers and homeowners were still struggling to recover.

CVM said the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, ODPEM, was invited again to discuss the report but declined. The discussion came with the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season days away and the Meteorological Service warning about drought risks linked to El Niño.

Dr Gavin Myers, principal director of National Integrity Action, said the audit pointed to wider weakness in state systems, particularly where key committees and oversight structures were not in place. He argued that Jamaica needs the state’s disaster response systems to work through clear institutions, not mainly through elected officials.

Janette Calder, executive director of the Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal, said the findings reflected both an implementation problem and a governance failure. She noted that the National Disaster Fund lacked a functioning committee, a standalone bank account, audited accounts for two consecutive financial years, and finalised guidelines before Melissa struck.

Calder said the committee should have been appointed by Cabinet, with the responsible minister’s involvement, during the period covering both Hurricane Beryl and Hurricane Melissa. She also questioned whether the proposed National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority would solve the weaknesses, saying the law did not appear to address issues such as delayed fund releases, documentation gaps, or missing proof of who received construction material.

Opposition MP Ian Hayles also raised concerns about western Jamaica, saying many shelters, churches, schools, roads, roofs, beds and small tourism operators were still affected.

Both Myers and Calder said the most urgent step before June 1 was to put the National Disaster Fund committee in place and get the existing disaster response framework functioning properly.