Jamaica Defends Hurricane Donation Strategy Amid Audit Concerns

Jamaica's government is defending its strategy for managing Hurricane Melissa donations, particularly the decision to hold onto cash contributions for longer-term recovery efforts. Ambassador Rocky Meade, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, addressed the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to explain the government's approach following an audit report that highlighted only 1.8 percent of cash donations had been spent by February 23.

Meade insisted that the audit finding did not fully represent the government's comprehensive recovery strategy. He clarified that during the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, the priority was distributing essential items like food, medical supplies, and building materials that were donated in kind. He argued that providing cash at that critical juncture would not have been as effective as distributing physical goods to those in immediate need.

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The point about the percentage of donations that were deployed needs to be put into context. We were getting donations in kind and we got cash donations. The decision that was taken was in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, while persons were in need of physical items, giving them money would not help them at that time necessarily. They were interested in getting physical items. The funds that we had, the idea was to reserve those funds to acquire and provide for these [modular] units that would give people the recovery.

The preserved cash donations, Meade explained, were earmarked for the country's transition from emergency relief to sustained recovery, specifically for acquiring modular housing units. He emphasized that focusing solely on the percentage of cash spent overlooks the extensive use of donated goods, which formed the core of the initial relief operations.

Despite Meade's detailed explanation, Chairman of the PAC, Julian Robinson, suggested that the government's communication regarding this strategy was insufficient and came too late. Robinson stated that a clearer and earlier explanation could have prevented the public alarm and subsequent loss of confidence triggered by the audit report. The committee also reviewed the governance and procurement practices under the relief program, noting that the National Disaster Fund Committee had been inactive for over two years.

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The bottom line to the point is that the totality of the donations we got included cash and kind, and the priority was to use up the resources in kind first. So by reporting that at a certain point, only a small