KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) is warning that it will intensify its response if the Ministry of Local Government and the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) do not immediately accelerate the relocation of all remaining shelterees from school compounds.

The warning, shared in a statement on Tuesday, follows comments by Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie’s on Nationwide News where he responded to calls from Mark Malabver, JTA president, to clear the schools operating as shelters within three weeks.

McKenzie reiterated that the JTA has no authority to make such demands.

The JTA, in its statement, expressed profound concern and growing outrage regarding McKenzie’s response.

“The minister’s comments have now significantly escalated an already tense situation. If the intention was to silence the concerns of teachers, then he has badly miscalculated,” the JTA said.

“Instead, his statements have only strengthened the resolve of educators across the country who refuse to see their workplaces turned into emergency facilities indefinitely.”

The association said the minister’s utterances reflect a troubling failure to appreciate the duty of care owed to the nation’s children and to the educators who are entrusted with their safety and development.

“At a time when Jamaica’s education system is still struggling to recover from the devastating impact of Hurricane Melissa, such reckless commentary does not help the situation—it exacerbates it,” the JTA said.

The association rejected any attempt to trivialise or dismiss the concerns of educators.

“Schools are not designed to function as prolonged emergency shelters, and the continued occupation of school compounds by shelterees is incompatible with the safe and orderly operation of our educational institutions,” it said.

Pointing to previous public declarations from the minister that shelterees would have been relocated from schools before the start of the new school term, the association said:

“That promise has clearly not been honoured. The continuing presence of shelterees on school compounds is therefore not the result of impatience or agitation on the part of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association; it is the direct result of the Ministry of Local Government’s failure to meet its own stated timelines and commitments.”

It warned that if urgent and decisive action is not taken, it will have to consider all available options to protect its members and the students entrusted to their care, “including actions that could have serious implications for the normal operation of schools across the island.”

The association criticised what it said was a decision by McKenzie to engage in rhetoric that appeared calculated to undermine legitimate concerns and distract from the glaring shortcomings of his ministry.

Maintaining that it would not sit idly by while the safety of its members and the nation’s children is placed at risk, the JTA said that rather than merely being an administrative inconvenience, the issue speaks directly to the conditions under which teachers are required to work and the duty of care owed to the thousands of students who occupy institutions daily.

“As the recognised representative body for teachers across Jamaica, the JTA has both the right and the obligation to defend its members against unsafe and unacceptable working environments,” it said.

It noted that the continued use of schools as shelters—months after the emergency phase has passed—raises serious safety concerns and undermines public confidence in the integrity of the education system.

“Teachers across Jamaica are rapidly losing confidence in the willingness of the responsible authorities to treat this matter with the seriousness it deserves,” the JTA noted.

It called on the Government to understand that educators cannot and will not continue to operate under conditions that compromise safety, dignity, and the proper functioning of schools.

The JTA noted, however, that it remains open to dialogue; but emphasised that the responsibility for what follows will rest “squarely with those who have chosen delay and dismissiveness over decisive leadership.”