THE Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) has rejected suggestions that an army helicopter loaded with Hurricane Sandy relief supplies was diverted to transport the prime minister to a function in St Elizabeth, three days after the passage of the storm.

In Friday’s sitting of the Senate, Robert Montague raised questions concerning the alleged commandeering of the craft. The Opposition senator pointed fingers at an alleged journey by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller via chopper to a Maroon conference in Accompong, St Elizabeth on Saturday, October 27.

But the JDF’s firm denial that this was the case was contained in a press release issued Friday evening.

“At no time were any relief flights diverted or reassigned for other missions,” said Captain Basil Jarrett, the army’s Civil/Military Cooperation officer.

A dismayed Montague complained in the Senate during his contribution to the current State of the Nation Debate on Friday.

“The people were marooned, had not eaten from Wednesday; there were suffering old ladies, babies crying, children terrified, men and women desperate and hopeless,” he related.

He relayed the reports he received about the incident to his fellow senators.

“ODPEM on Saturday loaded up the helicopter, was ready to go when word came; the helicopter was needed to take someone important to give a speech! The supplies must be taken off! Oh my God, a speech over suffering! Who could be so cold?

Senator Montague offered further tongue-in-cheek commentary.

“And to make matters worse, some mischievous, malicious, bad-minded people are saying it was the PM who was on board. No, no, no, sir, not my PM. She loves poor people more than that. (But) who was on board, and why was the helicopter commandeered?” he said dramatically.

In its emailed response, the JDF outlined its version of events.

“…the Jamaica Defence Force had flights scheduled to conduct Hurricane Sandy relief operations at the request of the ODPEM, as well as to transport the prime minister and her party to St Elizabeth,” the release read.

Both flights were scheduled to depart within 20 minutes of each other, Jarret said. However, he noted that he relief packages delivered by ODPEM to the JDF exceeded the weight previously outlined by the relief agency, posing a threat to safe delivery.

“The JDF Air Wing considered switching the aircraft as a possible option for taking the additional supplies,” Jarret continued. “When contacted, the Prime Minister’s office readily agreed. However, due to the rapidly deteriorating weather conditions and the time it would take to reconfigure both aircraft, the JDF Air Wing decided to proceed with the original plan.

The JDF has insisted that “scheduled relief supplies were in fact delivered as planned, with the excess supplies being delivered as soon as the weather allowed by the following morning”.

Efforts to get a response from Jamaica House to the allegations raised in the Senate failed Friday, but the Jamaica Observer’s regional office confirmed that the PM did arrive at the Maroon conference by helicopter. However, there was no confirmation whether it was a JDF aircraft or whether foodstuffs were actually unloaded from it prior to the flight.