Opposition Warns Hurricane Melissa Relief Cargo Stuck at Ports and Warehouses

As the auditor general continues to raise concerns about the slow disbursement of Hurricane Melissa relief donations, Opposition spokesman on trade, industry and global logistics Anthony Hylton has sounded a separate warning about what he called a breakdown in how relief supplies are handled at ports and warehouses islandwide.

Addressing reporters at a press briefing at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition on Monday, Hylton said goods contributed by charities, Diaspora organisations, and community groups have been held up by lengthy delays, mounting storage costs, and administrative mix-ups — rather than moving swiftly to people hit by the storm.

His remarks come after the auditor general released a real-time audit of the Hurricane Melissa Relief Initiative, which flagged wider gaps in governance, oversight, and disaster management following the Category 5 hurricane that made landfall in Jamaica on October 28, 2025.

Although public debate over the audit has centred on the finding that just 1.8 per cent of the $1.44 billion in donations had been spent by February 2026, Hylton contended that a second crisis has been unfolding out of sight within Jamaica's logistics and cargo networks.

"Individuals, community groups, Diaspora organisations are being billed by freight and storage operators for delays caused by governmental inaction. [And] in several documented cases, individuals and organisations have had to make the painful choice between paying fees that have ballooned over the weeks and months or abandoning the goods entirely," he said.

Hylton said that even consignments carrying charitable certificates meant to waive many port-related charges have still faced protracted hold-ups.

"Perishable goods — including food items, medical supplies, and other consumables — have been reported as having deteriorated or gone bad entirely while awaiting clearance. This represents not only a waste of donated resources, but a profound failure of the duty of care owed to both donors and intended beneficiaries," he alleged.

He maintained that Jamaica ought to have been readier for post-disaster logistics, especially given lessons from Hurricane Beryl in 2024 and the recurring congestion seen during the Christmas shipping season each year.

Hylton also pointed to the auditor general's findings on the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management's disaster relief portal, which auditors said was used chiefly for donors to upload information rather than to produce operational reports on incoming relief supplies.

"A portal that receives information but produces no actionable management output is not a logistic system, it is a registration form," said Hylton.

He further cautioned that the situation could harm Jamaica's standing with international donors and Diaspora groups that moved quickly after the hurricane.

"The result is that Jamaica presented itself to the world as a country in need of help, which we were, received that help, and then subjected the very people who responded with generosity to a bureaucratic and financial ordeal. That reputational damage extends beyond our shores and it risks undermining future donor confidence in Jamaica's capacity to manage international assistance," he said.

Hylton is now pressing the Government to release a complete tally of relief goods still held in storage or left abandoned at ports, and to put a formal disaster logistics protocol in place ahead of the 2026 hurricane season, which begins on June 1.