NONE SPENT

The Government has confirmed that US$1.68 million and J$635 million have been donated to Hurricane Melissa relief accounts controlled by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), but said none of the money has been spent so far.

The disclosure was made at Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, where ODPEM Director General Commander Alvin Gayle said procurement plans for the accounts are now being developed.

“We’re doing that against the needs list. We’re looking at what persons are contributing otherwise, in terms of what’s on the ground in terms of physical assets and to move those. But we have been able to utilise some other accounts, primarily the NDF (National Disaster Fund),” said Gayle.

He said the funds were used for initial procurement of food and water.

Further, Information Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon confirmed that none of the money collected through donations has been spent as yet.

“So we’ve been using our government funds. Some additional funds were approved by Cabinet for ODPEM to use. Our donors have also provided food, and so on. So none of that money has been spent. They are now going to figure out how to spend it,” she said.

The mount of money spent so far on relief aid was not disclosed, with Morris indicating that it will be revealed at a later time.

Meanwhile, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie asserted that the current disaster relief structure does not allow ODPEM to engage with the political directorate, following concerns raised by some members of parliament (MPs) in affected constituencies that they are being left out of the aid process.

McKenzie said in each parish there is a development committee, which is chaired by the mayor of each parish.

He said parish disaster coordinators work closely with ODPEM and that everything done is filtered through the parish development committees, which MPs are a part of.

“The ODPEM should not be interacting with the political directorate so anybody can accuse the organisation of being political. So, the organisation deals directly with the structure that exists, and that is what has been done for years, and will continue to do so,” he said.

The opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has levelled accusations against the Government of a slow, inadequate, and politically biased response to the suffering of residents in western Jamaica, one month after Hurricane Melissa devastated the parishes.

Opposition MPs on Tuesday criticised the response, arguing that relief efforts are nowhere near the scale of the crisis.

Speaking at a press conference, the MPs dismissed the Government’s $10-million allocation per constituency as a “drop in the bucket”, and called the figure unrealistic for the number of people severely impacted by the hurricane.

They claimed that non-governmental organisations and private-sector groups are currently doing more than the State to assist.

According to them, the most urgent needs remain housing and food, with Hanover Western MP Heatha Miller-Bennett claiming that about 8,000 families are suffering in her constituency.

She said the official damage assessments has been “patchy-patchy” and unacceptable.

The group also alleged the politicisation of aid distribution, arguing that they are “sidelined” while relief packages are distributed by state ministers and political operatives without coordination with the sitting representatives.

They accused the Government of being more concerned with public relations than activating a swift response to housing crisis.

PNP President Mark Golding buttressed the claims, accusing the Government of failing to include the Opposition in the national recovery plan.

He called for an inclusive and equitable effort to pull the country together.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com