Prime minister sets out disaster-readiness priorities after Hurricane Melissa

Jamaica’s prime minister has used a National Risk Disaster Council meeting to call for a sharper, more disciplined disaster-readiness system, saying Hurricane Melissa showed that the country must be able to act quickly while making better use of local and international support.

He said Jamaica’s handling of donated resources proved that overseas partners and the diaspora can trust the country to use assistance carefully. Donated funds and supplies, he said, were directed to lasting needs such as generators for police stations, the Jamaica Defence Force, the fire brigade and parish councils, rather than being handed out without a plan.

The prime minister said the Government would soon announce further investment in the JDF’s transport, logistics and operational capacity, after some communities were isolated in the first hours after Melissa. He also said the permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister and the United Nations resident coordinator would co-chair an international disaster committee.

A major lesson from Melissa, he said, is that leadership must be visible and coordinated in a crisis. He said the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management must be reshaped into a stronger national resilience body, with better technical capacity, data systems and integration with the JDF’s logistics operations.

He also argued that information can save lives, noting that gaps in mapping, records and identification delayed help to some informal or poorly documented communities. He used the point to renew his case for national identification, saying repeated registration for grants after COVID, Hurricane Beryl and Melissa slowed relief and created room for errors and duplication.

Recovery, he said, must start during the response phase. Roads, roofs and communities should not simply be restored in ways that recreate the same risks. The Government, he said, will advance a resilience impact assessment framework for major policies, infrastructure investments and strategic projects.

The prime minister also stressed fiscal resilience, saying Jamaica could respond faster because it had savings, insurance and access to pre-arranged financing, including catastrophe bonds. He said the finance minister had begun talks to expand regional disaster insurance coverage to include a coastal programme for fishers.

With the 2026 hurricane season approaching, he urged ministries, municipal corporations, emergency services, utilities, schools, health facilities, scientific agencies, the private sector and community groups to leave the meeting with clear action points, including drills, continuity plans, stronger local response teams and better public communication.