Holness pumps another $9.65b into ROOFS

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness addressing a special press briefing at Jamaica House on Tuesday. (Photo: Naphtali Junior) Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has announced another $9.65 billion for the Restoration of Owner and Occupant Family Shelter (ROOFS) programme as the Government races to get financial assistance to families whose homes were damaged by Hurricane Melissa. With more than 118,000 households assessed as needing help and roughly half having received assistance, he has set a December target for reaching 90 per cent of those assessed and an end-of-January deadline for the remainder. Holness said the additional funding was intended to complete payments under the programme, which provides financial assistance to households based on the extent of damage to their homes. He also charged the Ministry of Labour and Social Security with ensuring that people who have completed the required checks receive their benefits. “The payments themselves will take some time because of the bureaucratic requirements, and I’m not saying it is a bad thing, but they have to go through steps. Verification — some houses have to be reassessed — all kinds of things to make sure that no one is benefiting who should not benefit or you are not benefiting more than once,” Holness said during a special press briefing at Jamaica House on Tuesday. The new allocation comes as the Government seeks to bring the recovery phase to an end by January 2027, nearly 15 months after Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica in October 2025. “Our objective is to reach 90 per cent of the assessed households with the assistance by the end of December. That’s your target, Minister Charles,” he instructed. He added that the Government wanted to conclude the recovery phase by January, although he did not suggest that every damaged home would necessarily be fully repaired by then. The ROOFS programme began with an initial allocation of $10 billion and provides grants according to the level of damage suffered by a household. Under the programme, assistance ranges from $75,000 for minor damage to $200,000 for major damage and $500,000 for severe damage, with portions of the larger grants restricted to building materials. Holness said approximately $12 billion had already been spent under ROOFS, with roughly half of the more than 118,000 assessed households having received assistance. The additional $9.65 billion is intended to support the remaining payments, subject to the completion of the required checks. The household grant programme is separate from the Government- and partner-led roof repair effort supported by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM). Under that initiative, Holness said $750 million in donations had been allocated to purchase zinc, lumber, nails, tools, and other materials used by the Jamaica Defence Force and its partners to install 575 roofs. Holness also announced that as of October 26, donations towards the Hurricane Melissa response totalled approximately $1.7 billion. He also outlined a further $800 million in allocations for semi-permanent housing works, including $700 million for contractual obligations under the shelter recovery programme and $100 million for work at the Shrewsbury site in Westmoreland. Holness defended the use of the donations, saying the Government wanted contributors to be able to see the lasting results of their support. His comments come amid scrutiny of the management of donated funds, after the auditor general identified gaps in records for roofing materials and difficulties verifying some completed repairs under the separate Government-directed roof restoration programme. The prime minister said the Government had spent approximately $84 billion on the wider response and recovery effort, including expenditure by central government, agencies, and public bodies. He said the Government must continue to direct resources towards urgent needs while controlling spending elsewhere.