DISGRUNTLED People’s National Party (PNP) Members of Parliament (MPs) on Tuesday blasted what they said is the Government’s poor handling of the overall recovery process post-Hurricane Melissa, and suggest that politics is being played in the distribution of relief supplies.

At a press conference held at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition Tuesday morning, PNP legislators from Westmoreland and Hanover were livid about what they said is the state of homelessness and suffering thousands of Jamaicans are experiencing.

“We have estimated that approximately 5,000 houses have been totally destroyed, with just rubble remaining. We have countless others that suffered significant to moderate damage to infrastructure. Churches, schools, police stations, health centres — all of those were severely damaged and non-functional in the immediate wake of the hurricane,” Dr Dayton Campbell, MP for Westmoreland Eastern, said.

”Had it not been for members of the private sector, private individuals, non-governmental organisations — including the Gem Foundation, Samaritans Purse, World Central Kitchen and Mercy Chefs — I don’t know what would have happened to the residents of Eastern Westmoreland. They stepped in, in a big way,” Campbell said.

He argued there is need for urgent intervention as it relates to providing temporary houses for people who were displaced by the hurricane and labelled the Government’s response as inadequate, delayed and inappropriate.

“What I find in the situation is the …Government is inserting their political operatives in the response mechanism and are circumventing elected officials. I represent all of the constituents in Westmoreland Eastern. I have no interest in how they voted,” Campbell said.

“This is a humanitarian crisis and not a political matter. As elected officials we have to be involved in the process. We know the communities, the areas, and the people. Even in relation to the distribution of aid, to just have the Jamaica Defence Force alone going into a community is not sufficient.”

Campbell also criticised the Government’s approach in dealing with shelters in his constituency. According to him, he supports all plans to reopen schools so as to cut back on learning loss, but he is not in agreement with people being removed from the schools being used as shelters without having a proper space to which they would be relocated.

“The shelters in the constituency were inappropriate from the beginning and continue to be inappropriate. There aren’t any beds or cots at any of the shelters. There are shelters with over 20 people in each of them,” he said. “In terms of emergency evacuation and housing for persons, we have not seen any of those tents supposedly in the country that should be made available.”

“I am told that in the Senate on Friday it was said that tents went to Dayton Campbell. Unless there is another Dayton Campbell that represents somewhere in Jamaica, it is certainly not this one. I will never support moving out the people from the shelters unless we make provision for them. That is inhumane,” Campbell said.

Meanwhile, Duane Vaz, the MP for Westmoreland Central, lamented that each MP received only $10 million to assist constituents with buying material for the rebuilding of their houses. He urged the Government to make land easier to acquire so that people can build sturdy, concrete houses for themselves and their families. He said because many people don’t own land, they opt to build wooden structures just in case someone surfaces claiming ownership of the land on which they live.

Ian Hayles, the Westmoreland Western MP, also expressed disappointment with how relief is being distributed.

Hanover Western MP Heatha Miller-Bennett, for her part, said she feels as if the parish is being neglected by the Government.

MP for Hanover Eastern, Andrea Purkiss insisted that the scale of devastation in Hanover is being under-reported, and that homes, schools, and farms were destroyed.

She encouraged the ministers of government to tour hard-hit areas in a similar manner to when they were campaigning for the September 3 General Election, and questioned where all the relief supplies are going, seeing that so many Jamaicans are still waiting to receive help after the hurricane.