Hylton urges Government to disclose status of hurricane aid still at ports

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Anthony Hylton, the Opposition spokesman on trade, industry and global logistics, has asked the Government to release, without delay, a full picture of hurricane-related donations that are still sitting unclaimed at ports and cargo yards across the island.

His demand comes after the Auditor General’s Department tabled a report in Parliament on Tuesday. That document showed that, by 23 February 2026, Jamaica had taken in $1.44 billion in donations to support communities hit by Hurricane Melissa. Yet the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) had disbursed only $26.2 million — roughly 1.8 per cent of the total.

The audit also stated that, as at the same date, ODPEM still held about $569.6 million and US$5.9 million in accounts tied to hurricane donations. Part of that balance — $138.8 million and US$101,974 — came from Hurricane Beryl relief that had not been used before fundraising for Melissa began.

Speaking at a People’s National Party (PNP) press conference on Monday, Hylton said Jamaica had appealed to the world for help, received it, and then put generous donors through a drawn-out bureaucratic and financial process. “Jamaica presented itself to the world as a country in need of help, which we were, received that help and then subjected the very people who responded with generosity to a bureaucratic and financial ordeal. That reputational damage extends beyond our shores, and it risks undermining future donor confidence in Jamaica’s capacity to manage international assistance,” he said.

He pointed to small local firms and diaspora groups that moved quickly to send supplies, noting that many lack the money to keep paying storage charges or the legal support to settle disputes with freight companies.

“The Opposition calls on the Government to immediately publish a full accounting of all donated goods that remain uncollected in storage or that have been abandoned at Jamaican ports and cargo facilities,” Hylton said. He also wants a separate report on goods that spoiled and were sent to landfill, plus a relief scheme to waive or repay storage costs borne by donors.

Before the 2026 hurricane season opens, he said, the Government should draft and publish a wider disaster protocol covering customs clearance, port operations, cold-chain handling for perishables and medicines, and coordination with freight operators so the post-Melissa bottlenecks are not repeated.