A Manchester woman funded her vacation in the amount of $150,000, using a housing grant she received from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS), after claiming her house was damaged by Hurricane Beryl which impacted the island in July 2024, according to Opposition Member of Parliament Mikael Phillips.

To make matters worse, her household received a second housing grant, an obvious duplication, as her brother was also presented with a cheque for $150,000, Phillips, who represents Manchester North Western, told Wednesday’s meeting of Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC). He was addressing the acting permanent secretary in the MLSS Dione Jennings.

“I know of one woman who said her daughter and son got [benefits] out of one household. They didn’t use the money for what it was intended for. One said that she took a vacation with the $150,000 that she got,” Phillips said.

Directing his comments to the current efforts to assist Jamaicans affected by Hurricane Melissa, which hit sections of the island last October, Phillips said: “In this instant I can guarantee that there are going to be some [duplications]. One person in a household getting from you [MLSS], and another one getting from the member of parliament”.

The PAAC is currently probing the Government’s response to Hurricane Melissa that devastated south- and north-western parishes. Phillips indicated on Wednesday that such duplication is being repeated in the aftermath of Melissa, in part because MPs are again being left out of the relief and recovery process.

Addressing Jennings, Phillips said, “We’re generally the first respondent on the ground, ourselves and the councillors, [but] when I asked the ministry for assistance we were told that they’re not going through the members of parliament”.

“Even when we’re asking for information on persons who have received [benefits]… because you have Ministry of Labour giving, you have JDF (Jamaica Defence Force) giving, you have members of parliament giving,” he added.

Phillips said that in such a scenario, MPs would be able to lessen the likelihood of duplication; however, “the response [from the ministry] is that there’s a Data Protection Act and I understand that, and that those names cannot be shared with us”.

While pointing out that he sees himself as part of Government, the Opposition MP said, “We have to find a way …that in an emergency like this, there has to be some suspension of the Data Protection Act.” He also asked whether it was the policy of the labour ministry not to include MPs and councillors in the distribution of care packages after a disaster.

“We started out that they can’t give it to us because TRN (Taxpayer Registration Number) and name had to be given. I hear persons saying that that is not so, but it is so, it is what we experienced.

“Is it policy that members of parliament are not to be part of [the process],” Phillips asked, with Jennings replying, “That’s a tricky one, member.”

Pointing out that she was involved in the development of the Disaster Risk Management Act, Jennings noted that MPs are part of the parish disaster committees (PDCs). “That’s the base and they are supposed to be active in their parish disaster committees,” she said.

Jennings also pointed to other entities that make up the PDCs, including the local authorities, humanitarian groups, and her ministry. She said MPs have a key role, “and part of that role is in the coordination, part of the referral as well. And if they have identified persons who need the assistance, we expect the members of parliament to indicate”.

The acting permanent secretary acknowledged that the MLSS, which provides the direct relief following a disaster, may not have all the resources that are necessary to give to all MPs. But she said the ministry has responded to MPs who have indicated that there may be a particular need in their constituencies. Jennings said this was why the ministry has enlisted the support of the JDF.

However, Phillips responded that “it doesn’t work that way, it doesn’t work” .

He then gave an example of a lack of coordination between the ministry and MPs. He told Jennings that he had arranged to meet with Labour and Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles Jr in the worst-affected area of his constituency on the border of north-west and north-east Manchester.

“He gave me a time to meet him in a particular community. When I drove into the community waiting on him, there was a helicopter on the ground offloading [care packages]. When the minister told me he was bringing packages to give out, when I called the minister to ask him if he knew [of the helicopter], he didn’t,” said Phillips.

He told the PAAC that the community in question had received care packages almost every day for one week while other communities were not addressed until the second week after Melissa hit.