PAC probes ODPM gaps in Hurricane Melissa relief audits

KINGSTON — Jamaica’s Public Accounts Committee on July 22, 2026 examined two Auditor General reports on Hurricane Melissa relief: an information-technology review of the Support Jamaica website, and a compliance audit of governance, procurement and the receipt and distribution of Starlink devices.

Acting Auditor General Marlon McAdam said the reports flagged information-security and data-privacy weaknesses on Support Jamaica, oversight gaps in the National Disaster Fund, and concerns about emergency procurement and Starlink distribution. He noted the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management had since begun implementing some recommendations.

Permanent Secretary Ambassador Rocky Meade said Category 5 Hurricane Melissa struck on October 28, 2025, and Cabinet later shifted disaster preparedness from the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development to the Office of the Prime Minister. ODPM Director General Commander Alvin Gayle said the agency largely accepted the findings, stressing that rapid emergency work did not excuse administrative shortfalls.

On Support Jamaica, Gayle said eight non-ODPM external accounts and the director general’s super-user rights had been removed, with access controls documented. The private developer still owns the site under a roughly one-year service arrangement and retains backend access, though a data-processing agreement is appended to the deed of agreement. The site remains open for donations. Meade undertook to update the committee on why the Office of the Information Commissioner suspended data-controller registration for 2025/26, acknowledging enforcement is presently constrained.

The National Disaster Fund committee’s term had lapsed in September 2023 and was reconstituted only in June 2026, chaired by ODPM finance director Nikita Dobbs. Meade said cash donations were held back for medium-term recovery, including modular housing — about 1,200 of a planned 2,500 units now in country — after in-kind aid was prioritised. Of some 200 Starlink units bought by ODPM from a $350 million National Disaster Fund drawdown, about 80 were reported unused in storage; deployment decisions for devices outside ODPM’s direct control were said to rest with the telecommunications ministry.

Members also heard the procedural path to pursue University Hospital of the West Indies CEO Fitzgerald Mitchell for failing to answer a June 8, 2026 summons. The committee confirmed minutes of its June 16 meeting and set a follow-up sitting for July 28 on related Melissa relief and roof-restoration audits.