Information Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon has revealed that the Government is moving to provide temporary housing for families displaced by Hurricane Melissa, promising that the facilities will be safe, dignified, and built to last.

Speaking Tuesday at the almost daily special press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister where the Government gives updates on its response to the hurricane, Morris Dixon said the Administration is working urgently to address the needs of Jamaicans who lost their homes during the Category 5 hurricane, while ensuring that the solutions offered are both humane and practical.

“There are several individuals and families that have been displaced because of the hurricane. Now, we have them in shelters, but that’s not the best facility and I have seen children in the shelters running around and it’s not the best environment. So the Government is looking at temporary housing facilities that can really honour the dignity of these people because if we were in the same position we would want to have a facility that we felt honoured our dignity, and so what we would want for ourselves is what we would want to do for other people,” she said.

According to the minister, Cabinet has already begun examining proposals for temporary housing units that could be deployed swiftly across the most affected parishes.

“We are looking at something that is good for people, not just throwing up something for individuals to go, and so those conversations are ongoing, [and] we have already gotten some quotations in terms of what different options there are around the world. We are getting some international support in terms of what has worked, what has been used elsewhere, and so we are working through that,” she added.

Morris Dixon also said Cabinet has acted swiftly to address the housing crisis created by the hurricane, starting with a comprehensive review of the damage.

“The first thing you have to do is review your assessment. You need to know how many people are affected. You need to know what the level of damage is, and that is actually being done right now. So we have teams out there doing the damage assessments,” she explained.

She emphasised that the new housing plan will not be a one-size-fits-all approach, noting that the Government is designing a range of options to suit different types of families.

“You have to have that number of those who need the temporary facilities. You also need to know what size; is it mainly single people? Is it big families? Some homes that have been destroyed may have had three or four families living on that one piece of property,” she explained.

Morris Dixon also disclosed that some of the proposed housing units could be delivered to Jamaica within 30 days, depending on manufacturing timelines. However, she stressed that the Government is not willing to compromise on quality in order to move faster.

“We don’t want to just have them feel like they’re just a charity case, that’s not what we’re about. We’re about giving people decent houses,” she said.

She also made clear that the Government’s goal is to ensure that the new structures are safe and durable, capable of withstanding future weather events.

“We want something that is not going to fall apart when a heavy gust of wind comes or rain falls… I heard people speak about tents. I mean, that is obviously something that every country that’s gone through this kind of disaster has looked at and we’ve looked at it too, but as I said, we want to make sure that whatever we do is semi-permanent and that it’s actually structurally sound for those families to live in.”