OPPOSITION Leader Mark Golding has accused the Government of ineptitude and dropping the ball in relation to its handling of post-Hurricane Melissa assistance for Jamaicans in the hardest-hit parishes, particularly in the area of housing.

Golding levelled the criticism during a People’s National Party (PNP) press conference held Tuesday morning at the party’s Old Hope Road headquarters in St Andrew, where Opposition Members of Parliament representing the south-western parishes that suffered the most damage complained about what they described as the inadequate and haphazard response to date from central government.

“If you look at what is happening in our country now, the Government has dropped the ball and the people of Jamaica and the economy of Jamaica are suffering as a result of the Government’s ineptitude in managing the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa,” declared Golding.

Melissa, the joint-strongest hurricane on record, slammed into south-western parishes on October 28 last year. Golding noted that in the last quarter of 2025, when the country was inundated with local and overseas NGOs and well-wishers providing relief for Jamaicans in the form of food distribution and other forms of assistance, “things were appearing to be on track for recovery”.

“However, that time has passed and the glaring gaps in Jamaica’s response to the disaster have been laid bare,” he remarked. He argued that the Government’s primary programme for addressing the shelter crisis occasioned by the hurricane — the Restoration of Owner or Occupant Family Shelters (ROOFS) Programme — is “hopelessly inadequate and is being incompetently administered”.

With his MPs having earlier spoken about their increasing frustration and disappointment with the programme when they addressed the press conference, Golding said, “We’ve heard from the MPs the horror stories of those who were promised and have not received any support, the difficulties of access, the lack of comprehensive coverage of people who are in desperate need of help. Tens of thousands of Jamaican families are living in a post-Melissa environment where they lack habitable shelter in which they can rebuild their lives.

“This is a deplorable situation which ought to be the focus and priority of the Government at this time, yet in his budget presentation the prime minister didn’t speak to it at all,” added Golding.

He argued that the soon-to-be established National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA), which is tasked with rebuilding the country, is not designed to tackle these problems.

Golding pointed out that the $10 billion allocated under the ROOFS programme was less than one-third of one per cent of GDP, and less than 10 per cent of the immediately available resources that Jamaica could draw down under its Disaster Risk Financing Framework. He said it was “hopelessly inadequate” to meet the challenges presented by Hurricane Melissa to the housing stock, especially in the worst-affected parishes.

While Westmoreland, St Elizabeth, St James, Trelawny and Hanover have been described as the hardest-hit parishes, St Ann and Manchester also suffered significant damage to infrastructure and agriculture.

“There are pockets of deprivation and shelter damage all over the country which are not being addressed. This situation has to be resolved,” Golding noted.

The Opposition leader also criticised the methodology being utilised by the ROOFS Programme, stating that it was not designed to ensure a more resilient approach to reconstruction.

He argued that there is a relatively minuscule amount being offered by way of building material, or a cash grant that is difficult to access — and this is compounded by inadequate support or guidance to “ensure that the methodologies used to rebuild their homes comply with even a basic set of guidance to build a more resilient shelter for themselves”.

“Therefore, we’re just repeating and compounding the lack of resilience in the housing stock which existed prior to Melissa. This is poor management, poor policy,” said the Opposition leader.

Six MPs addressed the press conference including Dr Dayton Campbell representing Westmoreland Eastern; Dwayne Vaz, Westmoreland Central; Ian Hayles, Westmoreland Western; Andrea Purkiss, Hanover Eastern; Nekeisha Burchell, St James Southern; and Zuleika Jess, St Elizabeth North Eastern.

Campbell lamented that many of his constituents are still living in deplorable conditions nearly six months after the hurricane.

He pointed to a recent visit to a community called Amity where he witnessed a resident mounting tarpaulin beside a grave to keep his belongings from getting wet whenever it rains.

“That’s the reality as to how persons are still living within the constituency,” lamented Campbell.

He was also critical of the ROOFS programme, noting that it has not benefited every family impacted by the hurricane and that it is not being efficiently managed.

“The way in which it is structured is causing quite a bit of heartache as well,” said the MP before explaining that some persons who have benefited from the full grant of $500,000 (for homes destroyed) have complained that because the designated hardware is in Savanna-la-Mar, persons in Bethel Town are forced to spend between $80,000 and $100,000 of the amount on transportation costs.

Campbell said similarly, persons who were told they could use the first $75,000 to purchase furniture or pay school fees, have to travel to Montego Bay, in St James, to get those funds. This, he noted, has resulted in chaos.

Vaz expressed doubt that his constituents who are still sheltering at Petersfield High School will be relocated by the promised May 8 deadline as “very little work” is being undertaken at the site to which they should be moved. He also said there are other constituents who left the shelters early, after they were told they would be evicted, who are in dire need of housing. He said some are living under tents and bridges.

In response to a reporter’s question, Vaz said he has not received any reports of persons sheltering at Petersfield High engaging in sexual acts in view of students.

For his part, Hayles told the press conference that “six months after Hurricane Melissa the people of Westmoreland are still suffering”.

He said most of those who have been called by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to collect a cheque are still waiting.

“If you do get a call to collect a cheque, most of the citizens from Western Westmoreland have to travel to Montego Bay — not in Westmoreland, but to St James,” said Hayles.

He also lamented that there is no assistance for small business operators whose businesses have been destroyed. He said it is unacceptable that people are waiting on government assistance six months after a hurricane, and he asserted that Westmoreland is the only parish where the garbage piles have remained since the disaster.

“There’s no other parish now which has a garbage pile-up than the parish of Westmoreland. Something has totally happened since the hurricane where we can’t get the garbage in Westmoreland to be collected,” he said.

“When you come out a yuh house yuh enter the bad road, when yuh enter the bad road yuh running into garbage — something has happened somewhere,” Hayles stated.

He highlighted that farmers’ crops have been wiped out, livelihoods have been lost, children are not attending school, and there is an increase in criminal activity in the parish.

Suggesting that Westmoreland has been neglected because it is represented by three Opposition MPs, Hayles warned that there could be demonstrations.

“I want to appeal to the minister of local government, to the prime minister, and to just ask: How much more can the people of Westmoreland accept or take before they start taking to the streets? We’re doing a lot in terms of holding down these demonstrations which have been planned every single day,” he said, adding that he has managed to stop about six protests from taking place.