State agencies detail Melissa relief accounting, sugar recall, agro-park push, and health service reforms

Consumer authorities are urging shoppers to heed a recall issued by Pan Caribbean Sugar Company Limited. The Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) says anyone who bought the affected product bearing manufacturing dates from 30 March to 12 April 2026 should take it back to where it was bought to pursue redress. Where a serious health risk is suspected, people should get medical care if needed and keep records that could support any claim. The CAC can be reached on 876-619-4222, while complaints may be filed through cac.gov.jm or sent to [email protected].

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPM) is pushing back against the impression that a slow drawdown of donated cash for Hurricane Melissa means little recovery work is happening. The agency argues the pattern reflects careful stewardship of funds. It is answering an Auditor General’s report indicating that, of about $1.44 billion in cash donations received, roughly $26.2 million—about 1.8 percent—had been spent by 23 February 2026. ODPM explains that donated building materials and supplies valued near $400 million were already in hand to back a government-led roof repair drive, so officials sought to avoid double spending and to hold cash for other cleared recovery priorities. It reports that about $135 million has so far underpinned the roof programme, with 461 repairs finished, while some $600 million is set aside for concrete bases for modular homes for people who lost housing in the storm. On governance, the office says it formally sought approval in February to regularise the donated money as public funds within the approved budget before spending more, and it intends to use about $500,000 of the regularised amounts for shelter recovery work led by government and partners. Looking ahead, ODPM says it will tighten Liverpool protocols and watch more closely how relief goods move during operations.

Agriculture Minister Floyd Green, speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, said the government is reclaiming underused agro-park land to lift production and make better use of irrigated acreage. He said 120 acres were recovered last year from people who were not putting plots to proper use, with another 280 hectares flagged for possible recovery this year if production does not improve, as part of a push toward roughly four-fifths utilisation of agro-park space. Expansion work is under way at New Pen in St Mary, Lowe Lane in Portland, and two St Ann sites the minister identified by name in his address. Separately, he outlined a five-year irrigation drive aiming to put more than half of Jamaica’s arable land under irrigation, including a major Pedro Plains expansion slated to serve over 4,000 hectares alongside smaller schemes adding about 2,000 hectares. He pledged Essex Valley farmers would see supplies turned on before the end of 2026, with Amity Hall and Bridgepen following in the second quarter of 2027, and said the National Irrigation Commission will this year study desalination and greywater reuse to widen sources for farmers.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness has rolled out a citizens charter alongside a “weight for wait” patient experience programme aimed at sharper customer service and greater trust in public facilities. A dedicated unit will try to lock in standards across sites. Portfolio Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said people “must feel that they have recourse if they don’t get what they want,” and that this must feel automatic, backed by communication, public education, and training. He said accountability will feature surprise checks, performance reviews, and firmer action where institutions or staff fall short, while conceding that waits occur in health systems everywhere but insisting the waiting experience must improve through communication, empathy, and timely responses. On hormonal health, the ministry is finishing a national menopause and andropause policy for cabinet this month, citing figures that roughly 400,000 Jamaicans are affected overall, including about 240,000 women over 40 navigating menopause and about 145,000 men over 50 facing andropause-related challenges. Dr Tufton flagged upcoming public education, training to embed the topics in professional curricula, and a consultant to help normalise clinical conversations, noting ongoing work with Professor of Public Health and Aging at The University of the West Indies, Dr Denise Eldemire Shera, and a ministry-appointed ageing committee.

Finance and Public Service Minister Fayval Williams, addressing permanent secretaries and agency heads at the 2026 Government of Jamaica Service Excellence Conference at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Wednesday, called for more inventive, strategic leadership to build a public service that can withstand shocks. She said Jamaica has reached a decisive point where systems must perform under pressure and keep serving citizens in changing conditions, which demands a shift in how leaders operate. The gathering supports wider modernisation efforts and a service excellence policy introduced in 2022, with 23 ministries, departments, and agencies now actively implementing the programme.