Government targets May 8 exit for school shelter occupants after Melissa

Everyone who is still living in school buildings used as emergency housing after Hurricane Melissa destroyed their dwellings is slated to finish moving elsewhere by Thursday, May 8.

The Ministry of Local Government and Community Development has signalled that the transition will cover all occupants who have stayed in educational sites since the strongest storm on record passed through.

Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dr the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon, gave an outlook when she took queries at Wednesday’s (May 6) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

“In terms of the deadline, when I spoke to [Local Government] Minister [Hon. Desmond] McKenzie, he said things were on track for that. Yesterday (May 5) I was at Petersfield High School [in Westmoreland] where the shelterees are, and they have actually commenced [moving out]. So, there is a new facility that… I know was being prepared, and that is in train. So as far as I know, we are on track for that,” she told journalists.

Hurricane Melissa arrived as a Category Five system on October 28, 2025, unleashing devastation in multiple parts of Jamaica.

Authorities put combined damage and economic losses from the hurricane at about $1.952 trillion Jamaican dollars (US$12.2 billion), roughly fifty-six point seven per cent of the country’s 2024 gross domestic product.