WATCH: Holness hits back at Beenie Man after Hurricane Melissa relief comments
ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica — Against the backdrop of criticism from dancehall veteran Beenie Man over the Government’s hurricane relief efforts, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness on Wednesday took a swipe at the artiste.
He said over $300 million of the Government’s $3.8 billion allocation to the health sector post Hurricane Melissa was spent to rebuild the Black River Hospital.
“[With] all the dignitaries… who are here, I thought to myself the Minister [of Health Dr Christopher Tufton] neglected to invite Beenie Man, because then he would see first-hand how the Government has been spending on the recovery,” Holness said on Wednesday during the reopening of the Black River Hospital.
Beenie Man criticised the Holness administration’s handling of millions of dollars in donations it received to assist Jamaicans devastated by the storm.
READ: ‘You don’t see where the money go’: Beenie Man criticises Gov’t hurricane relief spending
Speaking in an interview with ITV News, one of the United Kingdom’s largest commercial news organisations, the entertainer criticised the distribution of disaster relief funds and warned that coastal development could threaten the livelihoods of Jamaicans who depend on the island’s beaches.
— Kasey Williams
