Reggae superstar Buju Banton has doubled down on allegations that his hurricane relief items were stolen at the port and has accused Daryl Vaz of attempting to “shame and blame” him after the transport minister rubbished the claim Thursday.

In a video shared by the entertainer on Wednesday, Banton had alleged that containers filled with relief items for disaster victims were being stolen, posting a photo showing a half-filled barrel as evidence.

READ: Buju Banton alleges relief items stolen at port

However, Vaz refuted the claim on Thursday morning, stating that an investigation showed no evidence of missing or tampered goods.

According to the minister, the shipment in question arrived on Tuesday and was cleared immediately by the customs broker. He emphasised that the items were never stored or moved offsite, but went directly from the aircraft on the tarmac to the receiving truck. He said the customs officer who cleared the items confirmed that the pallets were sealed, adding that they were also cross-checked against the list provided by the sender.

READ: Vaz refutes Buju Banton’s claim of stolen hurricane relief item

“Nothing was missing or disturbed,” Vaz said.

However, Banton hit back in a subsequent post later Thursday morning, suggesting that the minister is “unaware of how things went”.

He said, “The goods were not taken from the plane to our trucks but instead taken from the plane to an area we had no sight of. On day one, our persons waited for some 7+ hours for the clearance of the items and for the trucks to be loaded. On day two, the same thing happened, with the only difference being that the time they took to get us the items from customs was a shorter wait time.

“Seals were broken and things were taken. I have no reason to create mischief nor make up stories. As usual, you have tried to make this political,” Banton added.

He went on to accuse the minister of lack of accountability and “trying to shame and blame the person who speaks out.”

Banton said: “The reality is that the system is broken. If you took the time to read the comments under my post, you would realize that though I may have been the first public figure to come forward with this issue, I am not the first person to have experienced it.

“It is extremely disappointing that this is the attitude and approach you have chosen to take, but not surprising,” Banton said.

Vaz responded under Banton’s post.

“We have the manifest and I am getting the video footage to share publicly. The items were removed from the tarmac because the truck cannot drive on the runway. Its in my best interest [to] help and be transparent so provide the items missing and let me further assist,” the minister said, adding “The stove and starlink you mentioned were never on the cargo manifest Buju. So send the missing items so we can have the matter addressed.”