Millions unspent

AFTER receiving $1.44 billion in donations by February 23, 2026 to assist Jamaicans devastated by Hurricane Melissa, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) had spent just $26.2 million, or 1.8 per cent of the funds, by that date, according to an Auditor General’s Department report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

The real-time audit of the Hurricane Melissa Relief Initiative, which examined financial management and procurement under the Government’s Roof Restoration Programme, also found that $34 million worth of roofing materials could not be properly verified because the supplies had not been supported by signed delivery slips or goods received notes (GRNs), while a further $141.1 million in committed expenditure lacked confirmed payment documentation.

The report painted a troubling picture of Jamaica’s disaster recovery framework almost six months after Hurricane Melissa, which battered sections of the island on October 28, 2025.

It exposed weaknesses in financial oversight, procurement monitoring, governance systems, and beneficiary verification within the country’s relief response.

“This audit found that weaknesses in financial management, governance, and programme accountability limited transparency over Hurricane Melissa relief resources,” said Auditor General Pamela Monroe Ellis in the report’s foreword.

“Of $1.44 billion in cash donations received, only $26.2 million (1.8 per cent) had been spent as at February 23, 2026, alongside unreported and unspent Hurricane Beryl balances,” she added.

Beryl sideswiped Jamaica’s south-western coast in July 2024.

The auditor general also found that ODPEM still held approximately $569.6 million and US$5.9 million in hurricane donation accounts as at February 23, 2026, including $138.8 million and US$101,974 left unspent from Hurricane Beryl relief donations before fund-raising for Hurricane Melissa had even began.

According to the report, ODPEM also failed to provide information showing the total amount collected and spent following Hurricane Beryl, making it impossible to determine whether the remaining balances reflected ongoing projects or failures in programme execution.

“The presence of significant unutilised balances from Hurricane Beryl prior to the commencement of Hurricane Melissa fund-raising further indicates weaknesses in the planning, monitoring, and utilisation of donated funds across disaster response cycles,” she added.

The report also raised concerns about the handling of donations processed through the Government’s Support Jamaica platform.

The auditor general found that a private financial company held on to 30 per cent of donations for 45 days to protect against possible refund claims, but ODPEM had no formal written agreement for the arrangement.

She also noted that more than $15 million and US$298,429 remained withheld past the proposed transfer deadline, while auditors were unable to independently confirm whether the funds were eventually deposited into ODPEM’s accounts because supporting bank statements were not provided.

“ODPEM did not have in place a formal agreement with the FSI (Financial Services Institution) governing the retention of 30 per cent of net donations for 45 days to cover potential bank chargebacks. Further, no evidence was found that ODPEM took timely or effective action to enforce compliance with the proposed arrangement, despite significant delays of between 22 and 83 days beyond the proposed transfer timeline,” the audit further explained.

As it relates to the Government’s roof restoration programme, ODPEM told auditors that 421 roofs had been repaired under the programme, which involved the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and a foreign military support team. However, the Auditor General’s Department said it could not properly verify the repairs because key supporting records were either incomplete or absent.

Among the deficiencies identified were missing beneficiary selection criteria, the absence of documented approval processes, and a lack of completion reports confirming that repair works had actually been carried out using the roofing materials purchased.

“No documentation was provided to show the categorisation of the beneficiaries based on damage assessment with the appropriate evidence of damage to allow for audit trail from what existed before the repairs,” she said.

The audit also revealed that, of $122.5 million in roofing supplies delivered to JDF locations, only $88.6 million was formally acknowledged as received.

“The remaining $34 million in roofing materials, representing 27.8 per cent of all materials delivered, was not supported by signed delivery slips or goods received notes (GRNs) countersigned by either ODPEM or a JDF representative, leaving these deliveries unverified and unacknowledged by the receiving party,” auditors found.

Questions were also raised about procurement practices used during the emergency response.

The report found that ODPEM awarded contracts totalling $167.3 million for roofing materials using restricted bidding and single-source procurement methods allowed under emergency conditions. However, three of the four contracts were issued to suppliers who did not hold valid Public Procurement Commission registration certificates or current Tax Compliance Certificates at the time the contracts were awarded.

Although ODPEM relied on emergency procurement guidance issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, the audit noted that the situation still reflected deficiencies in eligibility verification controls.

Beyond the roofing programme, the report exposed long-standing governance failures involving the National Disaster Fund (NDF), which is established under the Disaster Risk Management Act.

The auditor general found that ODPEM had failed to prepare required statements of accounts and annual reports for the fund for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years because there was no functioning fund committee or appointed chairman.

The audit further disclosed that the NDF did not have its own designated bank account, with transactions instead being mixed with those linked to a separate Japan International Cooperation Agency-funded emergency communications project.

“Continued non-compliance with the Disaster Risk Management Act, including no standalone audited NDF accounts, required reporting and a dedicated NDF bank account further weakens oversight,” the report warned.

As of February 23, 2026, the NDF reportedly held $163 million in bank balances and an additional $293 million in investments.

The AG Department stressed that the ongoing audit was not intended to obstruct disaster relief efforts, but rather to strengthen accountability while recovery activities were still underway.

“The primary aim of this ongoing audit is not to impede emergency relief efforts but to reduce the risk of blurred transparency and to identify deviations before losses accumulate rather than being discovered after the fact,”

The report forms part of a wider real-time audit series into Hurricane Melissa recovery operations. According to the document, 420 contracts, valued at $11.13 billion, have so far been awarded in response to the hurricane, with broader audits still underway.