Despite widespread damage across sections of the island from Hurricane Melissa, the Government says the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) remains firmly on track with payments for December now being disbursed.

Furthermore, additional financial assistance is set to reach 40,000 children on PATH and 1,500 children with disabilities ahead of Christmas, through a partnership between the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The announcement was made on Thursday during a meeting of the Jamaica Observer Press Club at which portfolio minister Pearnel Charles Jr said the ministry had taken deliberate steps to ensure that beneficiaries were not left without income support following Hurricane Melissa, which ravaged sections of the island on October 28.

The additional support amounts to $187.2 million, with $151 million earmarked for the 40,000 children on PATH, while the remaining funds will go towards assistance for the 1,500 children with disabilities.

Confirmation has since come that disbursement of the $187.2-million has been scheduled in time for Christmas, providing critical relief to families still recovering from the effects of the hurricane.

While making this announcement, Charles Jr noted that the hurricane had increased vulnerability across communities, including among those already enrolled in the programme.

“The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has been in touch with our beneficiaries. We may not say to them that, ‘We are in touch with you because you are on PATH,’ because again, Melissa did not determine its path based on your vulnerability. Everybody gets hit, but we have considered the issues that are amplified from people who are facing challenges, such as our PATH beneficiaries,” Charles Jr said.

He explained that the ministry focused on removing barriers to access, particularly where damage to infrastructure made it difficult for beneficiaries to collect payments through normal channels.

“We have ensured that where there are difficulties in terms of being able to retrieve your cheque or retrieve your payment, that we step in and give some assistance,” he said.

The ministry also confirmed that PATH payments for December officially began on Thursday, alongside the reissuing of cheques that went uncollected in October and November due to hurricane-related challenges.

Audrey Deer-Williams, chief technical director with responsibility for the Social Security Division in the ministry, told the Observer Press Club that PATH beneficiaries who missed earlier payments will receive them this month.

She also announced that programme compliance requirements have been temporarily waived, allowing beneficiaries to receive their full entitlement even if hurricane conditions prevented them from meeting school attendance, or other conditions tied to the programme.

PATH, Jamaica’s flagship social protection programme, provides cash transfers to low-income households to support children’s education, health care, and basic living expenses.

Payments are delivered through post offices, remittance agencies, and direct deposits, systems that were partially disrupted when Melissa damaged facilities across several parishes.

Therefore, Deer-Williams said alternative arrangements were put in place to ensure continuity.

“Most of them would receive the cheques, and the post offices also suffered damage, but… the post offices have given us alternative locations where persons can go and collect their cheques. Similarly with the remittance, which is the next largest batch, the remittance agencies have given us alternative locations where persons can collect their cheques,” she said

Beyond cash assistance, Charles Jr said the ministry’s response has extended to material and psychosocial support, particularly for pensioners, persons with disabilities, and PATH beneficiaries who lost homes or livelihoods during the hurricane.

“So the payments not only remain on course, but, where possible, have been amplified [and] several of the PATH beneficiaries, several of the pensioners, several of the persons with disabilities, in addition to payments… they have received packages, they have received mattresses, they have received other support from us, and our social workers interact with them,” he said.

The minister also highlighted the psychological toll of the disaster, noting that recovery goes beyond physical rebuilding.

He added that assessments may take longer because social workers are trained to recognise trauma and provide space for affected residents to process their experiences, particularly in cases where families had no insurance and are now relying heavily on State support.

“Sometimes you will see a picture of one of my assessors standing up outside of a house, or what used to be a home, with a victim, sometimes not asking them questions, [but] sometimes they’re listening, which is why assessments may take some time because people need us not just to provide them with a package, but as a sort of conduit for them to release and ventilate a lot of the trauma that they have gone through,” said Charles Jr.