Audit shows 1.8% of $1.44B in Melissa relief donations spent seven months after storm

Seven months after Hurricane Melissa, Jamaica had spent only about 1.8% of roughly US$1.44 billion in cash donations received for relief, according to figures cited from an Auditor General’s report on the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPM).

The ODPM took in about $1.44 billion from donors at home and abroad after the storm. As of February 2026, auditors recorded roughly $26 million in spending, leaving more than 98% of the funds unused while affected households and businesses were still rebuilding. Many hurricane-affected families remained without permanent shelter, with reports of people sleeping in vehicles or under tarpaulins, living without roofs or stable homes, and facing destroyed businesses and livelihoods.

Auditors also raised concerns about a financial services institution that held 30% of net donations against potential chargebacks. Four months after the hurricane, there was still no formal written agreement governing that arrangement, and bank statements confirming those funds were returned to the ODPM were never supplied to the audit team.

Separately, the National Disaster Fund, established under the Disaster Risk Management Act, is required to be audited annually on a standalone basis, maintain its own bank account, and publish proper annual reports. For five consecutive years, none of those requirements was met. The fund was folded into the ODPM’s general accounts and presented as a liability.

The Auditor General’s findings put pressure on the Government to respond with documented action and accountability rather than public relations messaging. Jamaicans, businesses, and the diaspora who gave generously after Melissa remain entitled to clear answers on how relief money is held and disbursed while suffering across the country continues.