The People’s National Party (PNP) has rejected claims that the Auditor General’s report on the slow spending of Hurricane Melissa relief funds further justifies the need for the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA).

The Opposition argued instead that the findings exposed poor planning and the absence of a proper expenditure strategy for disaster recovery funds.

Speaking at a press conference at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition on Monday, Opposition Senator Cleveland Tomlinson pushed back against recent Government suggestions that bureaucracy was primarily responsible for the slow pace of spending identified in the Auditor General’s Real-Time Audit of the Hurricane Melissa Relief Initiative.

The report, tabled in Parliament last week, found that only $26.2 million, or 1.8 per cent, of the $1.44 billion donated following Hurricane Melissa had been spent by February 23, 2026.

Government Senator Marlon Morgan has since argued publicly that the findings highlighted the need for NaRRA, contending that bureaucratic delays slowed the deployment of relief funds.

But Tomlinson said the explanation did not align with the audit itself.

“If you examine the Auditor General’s report in its entirety, it will tell you that not only was 88 per cent of the money donated unspent, but it was uncommitted for spending. There was no expenditure plan. Now, bureaucracy slows committed spending. When you have allocated monies for a particular project and you run into some bureaucratic delay, then it delays that. But if you did not commit the money for any particular expenditure, then how do you anticipate in that regard that bureaucracy would slow the spending?” he questioned.

The Opposition has repeatedly criticised several aspects of the NaRRA Bill, which was recently passed by both Houses of Parliament and, once enacted into law, will establish the authority to oversee large-scale reconstruction and resilience projects.

During debate on the legislation, Opposition members raised concerns about oversight mechanisms, procurement safeguards, and the absence of stronger audit structures within the authority.

Tomlinson argued on Monday that the Auditor General’s findings had strengthened those concerns rather than weakened them.

“What it demonstrates is the need for real-time audit in NaRRA, that’s what it demonstrates,” he said of the auditor general’s report. “Recall, when NaRRA was being passed, one of the challenges, one of the lack of clear risk management functions that the Opposition highlighted, was that there was no audit committee.”

He also questioned why such large sums remained idle months after the Category 5 hurricane devastated western Jamaica, leaving thousands displaced and heavily dependent on emergency assistance.

“When I think of the thousands of Jamaicans who were hungry, who were sleeping in buildings without roofs or damaged roofs, and to think that the Government sat on this amount of money that could have been directed in relief efforts is very unfortunate,” he said.

“You know, when I think of the amount of mismanagement, the degree of the governance failure, particularly the amount of monies that were left unspent, the question that I think we should ask ourselves is, if the monies were not directed towards relief efforts, what were they being left unspent for? But more importantly, I think we should ask, who were the monies being left unspent for? And when you ask those questions, I want you to think of the history of a litany of Auditor General’s report that have pointed to misappropriation of funds, mismanagement, questionable acts regarding financial mismanagement,” he added.

He declared that if the Opposition was “at the wicket” it would have prioritised a clear expenditure framework since day one.

“The Opposition, from the outset, would have developed a clear plan that would have taken into account what the needs are in the respective areas, and would have ensured that when the monies come in, that they would be deployed in areas needed… and that is why we ground our recommendation in this reality, that there must be a clear plan of action, and if we were at the wicket, certainly this would not have been an occurrence. The money would have been deployed, and it would have been used for relief efforts,” he said.

Opposition spokeswoman on social protection and social transformation Dr Angela Brown Burke also argued that the audit findings reflected deeper structural problems in the Government’s disaster response systems, particularly around coordination and accountability.

She pointed to the human impact of the delayed spending, arguing that many hurricane victims remained in desperate conditions almost seven months after the storm.

“These funds were intended to deliver shelter and to help hurricane victims. Instead, what do we have? Nothing but utter chaos. So the Auditor General’s review has uncovered catastrophic deficiencies in governance, oversight, and accountability, the damning results of millions in funds and materials that cannot be independently verified, and our most vulnerable citizens remain completely unprotected,” she said.