A Jamaican opposition politician has publicly condemned the national government for failing to deliver on a critical pledge to relocate displaced hurricane survivors from a Westmoreland Parish school shelter by the agreed deadline, leaving dozens of residents stuck in unsanitary, dangerous conditions.
Dwayne Vaz, the People’s National Party Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Central, says the administration’s missed May 8 deadline has forced people who were staying at the Petersfield High School hurricane shelter to move into adjacent, rodent-infested housing originally built for school teachers.
The government’s original promise included the construction of 50 prefabricated container homes at a new site in Shrewsbury, located just a short distance from the current overcrowded school shelter. But according to Vaz, work on the development has barely progressed: only five concrete foundations have been poured, and no basic infrastructure including electricity, running water, or a working sewage system has been installed at the property.
Vaz placed direct blame for the delay squarely on the head of the Minister of Local Government, arguing that the failure to keep this promise to vulnerable survivors exposes deep-seated incompetence within the minister’s portfolio. He has now called on Jamaica’s Prime Minister to step in and address what he frames as a clear case of mismanagement of the national hurricane recovery program.
“We are calling out the prime minister. Please assist the residents in Shrewsbury and get them to where was promised to them,” Vaz told reporters.
The Ministry of Local Government and Community Development first made the public commitment to relocation last month, as part of the country’s ongoing post-disaster recovery work. The pledge came in the wake of unconfirmed reports that shelter residents were engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct in the presence of students attending the school, sparking public outcry over the continued use of campus facilities as long-term emergency housing.
The survivors currently housed at the site were displaced by Hurricane Melissa, which impacted Jamaica in recent years, leaving hundreds of residents across the country without permanent housing.