Of the J$1.44 billion in cash donations Jamaica received after Hurricane Melissa, its disaster agency had spent J$26.2 million by late February. That is 1.8%, according to the island’s auditor general, four months after the storm.
Nearly a year after Melissa hit in October 2025, a new report from the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) says the money is only part of the delay. Roofs are still unrepaired, and about 80 public schools were still teaching in tents or on rotation when the 2026-27 school year opened, the report found, as the Jamaica Gleaner reported Sunday. The Education Ministry says 92% of schools are operating at full capacity.
The donations were raised for a country where most people are of African descent, and for the Jamaicans abroad who watched the recovery from afar. Western parishes such as St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland took the worst of the storm, and many families there have been living under tarpaulins.
Why the money sat
The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) told auditors it needed Finance Ministry approval to spend the donations. According to the CAPRI report, the ministry was not formally asked until Feb. 4, 2026, more than three months after the hurricane.
The auditor general, Pamela Monroe Ellis, wrote that “weaknesses in financial management, governance, and programme accountability limited transparency over Hurricane Melissa relief resources.” As of Feb. 23, ODPEM still held about J$569.6 million and US$5.9 million in its hurricane donation accounts. That included J$138.8 million and US$101,974 left over from Hurricane Beryl relief, raised before Melissa fundraising began.
Roofing records
The audit and CAPRI also looked at building supplies. Of J$122.5 million in materials delivered to Jamaica Defence Force locations, J$88.6 million was formally acknowledged as received. The other J$34 million was not backed by signed delivery slips or goods received notes.
CAPRI added that three suppliers on J$167 million in roofing material contracts lacked valid procurement registration or tax compliance certificates.
CAPRI puts Melissa’s damage at J$1.95 trillion (US$12.2 billion), including some 85,000 damaged homes.
CAPRI will launch the full report Oct. 30, the first anniversary of the storm, in Montego Bay.
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