Holness Earmarks Hurricane Donation Funds For JDF, ODPEM And Modular Homes

The Jamaica Defence Force and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management are set to get a portion of the $1.4 billion donated for Hurricane Melissa recovery, as the Government moves to replace emergency construction supplies used up after the storm.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness outlined the plan while visiting Lewis Town Early Childhood Institution in Brompton, St Elizabeth, on Labour Day.

“We are going to restock the JDF and ODPEM with building materials. We have the funds to do it now, so that you can go on to do another 500 roofs,” Holness said.

The prime minister also pushed back against criticism of how the administration has managed the donated money. He said the Government chose not to spend the cash hastily in the early days after Hurricane Melissa because significant amounts of relief goods were already being shipped into Jamaica.

“We want to be able to say to those people who have contributed, Jamaica has put on 1,000 roofs. This is the material. This is what you have spent on,” he said. “That’s something that you can see – tangible, accountable, traceable.”

Holness also dismissed claims that a report from the auditor general had found wrongdoing in relation to hurricane relief items.

“It didn’t say the materials were stolen, but there was an administrative accounting failure,” he said.

He said the problem was tied mainly to the practical challenges of receiving supplies late at night.

“The JDF operates 24 hours. ODPEM operates nine to five. The truckers are carrying in the material when there is less traffic and congestion, so by the time they reach here when people are gone, only JDF is here to sign,” he said.

Holness said some of the donated money will also be directed to the Government’s modular housing recovery effort. That includes plans for a new community in Westmoreland to accommodate people affected by the hurricane.

“We are building a small community in Westmoreland to facilitate those persons who were being housed at the Petersfield shelter,” he said.

The prime minister said the authorities have already secured several hundred modular units.

“We made a promise of about 2,500 modular, semi-permanent prefabricated housing units through the NHT (National Housing Trust). The Government of China has given us some, the Ministry of Housing has purchased some, and I believe it’s the Red Cross that is giving us some as well. So we may get up to 3,000 modular units,” Holness said.

He added that the homes will not be handed over until the necessary supporting works are ready.

“Whatever units we put down, they must be on a proper base because if you put them down on anything that is not firm and flat they will warp – defects and all of that – so we are going to have to build a proper base for them, a concrete base,” he said.