MINISTER of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr on Wednesday alleged that “many of” the 9,958 people who fall in the “no significant damage” category following Hurricane Melissa assessments are being used as “political tools” by people to “agitate for grants” for which they do not qualify.

Charles Jr, in telling people not to allow themselves to be used as political tools, reiterated that those who have already received support will not benefit under the Shelter Recovery Programme, as they do not fall in the categories that are eligible to receive that benefit.

Assessments by labour ministry officials in the wake of Hurricane Melissa — which tunnelled through sections of Jamaica on October 28, 2025, packing Category 5 winds — have pegged 41,079 households as receiving minor damage, 42,586 major damage and 17,826 severely damaged.

The Shelter Recovery Programme is a nationally coordinated framework aimed at restoring safe and habitable living conditions, while reducing duplication across recovery efforts.

Managed by the labour ministry, the Shelter Recovery Programme integrates cash-based recovery, Government-directed and partner-led repairs, relocation solutions, and pathways to longer-term housing support.

Under the Restoration of Owner or Occupant Family Shelters (ROOFS) component, grant assistance is determined through verified damage assessments. Eligible households may receive $75,000 for minor damage, $200,000 for major damage and $500,000 for severe damage.

Backed by an initial allocation of $10 billion, the ROOFS Programme is intended to facilitate large-scale recovery across affected communities, with priority given to seniors, persons with disabilities and households that experienced the most severe impacts.

Wednesday Charles Jr, who was speaking at the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing at Jamaica House in St Andrew, said a digitized system which provides officials with real-time updates, has indicated that 113,234 household assessments were completed.

He charged that there have been efforts to “mix truth with exaggeration and lies, causing a lot of confusion for the public” and reiterated that not all persons who are assessed will receive a grant under ROOFS or under the Shelter Recovery Programme.

“If you fall into the ‘no damage’ or ‘no significant damage’ categories, you will not receive a benefit,” Charles Jr pointed out.

He in the meantime emphasised that there will be no duplication of benefits.

“The most important principle is one benefit per household and that’s not one benefit under ROOFS. “It’s one benefit under the Shelter Recovery Programme. So if you are a participant in the Government repair, meaning the JDF (Jamaica Defence Force) has come and fixed your roof, you should not be a participant in the ROOFS Programme and vice versa. And I say that again because a lot of the agitation that you hear are from persons who know better but who are speaking to people to whom we have already fixed their roof and saying to them, ‘look how you get severe damage and the Government don’t give you no cash’,” Charles Jr told the briefing.

While admitting that there have been issues with the system which is being used for the first time, Charles Jr said it is imperative that community leaders do not repeat issues that have been solved as if they are continuing or pending.

“So I use this platform to speak directly to Members of Parliament and others who have identified issues and some of them are raising specific names of persons who have issues and I was asked not to respond to the direct names…but I will say in protecting the integrity of the system that the names called have been checked and we know who has redeemed,” Charles Jr declared as he warned people against attempting to fleece the system.

“We know who has redeemed because, again, the problem that persons are going to have who are seeking to manipulate the system is that we are using a system that is digitised and with innovation it allows for us to have much more efficient processing of the data.

“So the reconciliation phase allows for us to now pull that information in and more importantly it allows for us to reconcile the issue. So anyone who has any concerns, instead of raising those concerns to agitate — which is your right — we are asking that you provide us with the concerns so we can resolve them,” added Charles Jr.

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness (left) presents a grant cheque to ROOFS Programme beneficiary Chevanese Myrie (second left), during a handover ceremony at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security office in Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth, on January 30. He is joined by Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Floyd Green (second right); and Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr. (Photo: JIS)