FALMOUTH, Trelawny – Disappointed with how State-run emergency shelters performed during the passage of Hurricane Melissa last October, Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie is determined they will be better prepared for this year’s hurricane season. He is also exploring other facilities that can be added to the list of shelters.

McKenzie has already put on his calendar a meeting with Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Social Development Commission (SDC), and municipal corporations to assess shelters across the country.

“That is something that is on the top of the agenda. I’m planning within another two weeks to convene a meeting [with] the ODPEM, the SDC and the municipal corporations, to have an extensive look at shelters. A lot of the shelters have been compromised because of Melissa, and in another four months we’ll be launching the hurricane season and we will now have to be looking seriously at some of our shelters,” McKenzie revealed on January 15.

“If the truth be told, if you ask me what was my biggest disappointment as the minister with that responsibility, I would tell you I was not pleased with a lot of the shelters. I believe that we have to have a sit-down — and that is going to happen, because we cannot go forward using the same sort of system that we have been using,” he added.

The minister was speaking during a tour of the construction site for the temporary Trelawny Infirmary in Falmouth.

McKenzie also revealed that the SDC has completed an islandwide survey of community centres, paving the way for these facilities to be possibly used as shelters going forward.

“We are going to be looking at community centres that we can remodel to turn those into shelters. That is going to be top on the list. We have to change a lot of what was in place previously as it relates to the shelters,” he said.

That change has already started at the Trelawny Infirmary, where excavation and groundwork for the temporary facility are now well advanced. Infirmary residents, who were relocated to Hague Primary School ahead of the October 28, 2025 Category 5 storm, have since been accommodated at Elleston Wakeland Centre in Falmouth. They will remain there until completion of the new temporary facility now under construction in the historic town.

In providing an update on other locations activated during Hurricane Melissa, McKenzie said all schools are now free of evacuees, with the exception of Petersfield High School in Westmoreland. He, however, made it clear that the evacuees are housed in a separate area of the school.

“There are no meetings of the students and those who occupy the shelters,” the minister stressed.

“We worked assiduously over the last couple of weeks — and I want to thank the SDC who is doing a marvellous job on the ground in helping to coordinate that aspect of the programme,” McKenzie added.

He said extensive work is now underway at Petersfield, with Food For the Poor working closely with the Government and the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation to prepare permanent housing solutions for the approximately 40 to 50 families registered at the shelter. He noted that the SDC has also been facilitating financial support for individuals who have moved into rental accommodations or are staying with relatives. However the local government minister stressed that there is an end date for this level of support.

“I just want to make the point that we will assist those persons in the Petersfield area, who have applied, over a three-month period. Government can’t, over a longer period, pay rent so it’s going to be done over a three-month period — and a lot more is going to be done,” he said.

“Just to say that the Government is working, we are moving, we are putting things in place, and you will see in a couple weeks’ time a lot more than what is happening at this time,” McKenzie added.

His comments came the same day the Government launched its multi-billion-dollar Hurricane Melissa Shelter Recovery Programme. It is a coordinated national response encompassing reconstruction, rehabilitation and relocation, and signals the Government’s transition from relief to recovery. Led by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the Shelter Recovery Programme is designed to support affected families, restore homes, and strengthen communities across the country.

Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie (left) has the attention of mayor of (from second left) Falmouth, C Junior Gager; chief technical director in the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development Dwight Wilson; and chief engineering officer for the Trelawny Municipal Corporation Kayon Hall, during a recent tour of the site that will house the temporary Trelawny Infirmary in Falmouth. (Photo: Horace Hines)