Holness: Process under way to relocate nearly 1,300 Jamaicans still in hurricane shelters

The Government has started the process of decommissioning hurricane shelters and is exploring suitable alternatives to relocate Jamaicans still residing at these facilities, Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has disclosed.

Currently, 97 shelters are still active, housing approximately 1,296 Jamaicans.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Holness noted that while the decommissioning of shelters might create challenges, it is necessary as “many, if not all of the shelters now are schools, and we have to get our schools back up for January.”

He said social workers and assessors from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and from the Ministry of Local Government have been deployed to go into these shelters and, “on a case-by-case basis, assess their needs and make recommendations and, where possible, implement solutions for the decanting of persons.”

“Our hopeful target is that we could decommission 90 per cent of the occupants from the shelter into alternatives. We are hopeful that we can do this; we are working very hard, but I can’t stand here and give you a definitive date. But the public should know that we have started a process to humanely, with the greatest consideration, decommission the shelters and find alternatives for the persons who are using them,” he said.

The Prime Minister also stated that more work needs to be done on the selection of shelters, and the Government will need to consider building fit-for-purpose shelters or building community facilities that meet required standards.

Hurricane Melissa, which tore through Jamaica on October 28, damaged nearly 156,000 homes, 24,000 of which were total losses.

The Category 5 storm impacted approximately 900,000 people and caused an estimated US$8 billion in physical damage.

- Sahanna Small

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