Gov’t To Review And Overhaul National Emergency Shelter System

The Government will be reviewing and potentially overhauling the national emergency shelter system, with the aim of improving the standard of buildings designated as prescribed shelters during natural disasters.

Speaking during Wednesday’s (November 19) press briefing on Hurricane Melissa recovery at Jamaica House, Prime Minister, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, emphasised that “there is no question in my mind that more work needs to be done on the selection of shelters”.

“We may very well have to consider building shelters that are for that purpose, or when we are building community facilities, to build them up to the standards that a shelter would require,” he further stated.

Dr. Holness’ remarks follow the destruction of several buildings that had been designated as emergency shelters during Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall on the island on October 28.

He pointed out that “some of the [structures] that you’re seeing functioning as shelters were never prescribed as shelters; they, however, had to be used in the immediate passage of the hurricane”.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister emphasised that the country has reached a stage where it must begin decommissioning the shelters activated in response to Hurricane Melissa.

He noted that between 1,200 and 1,300 individuals remain in shelters – many of which are schools – three weeks after the passage of the Category Five system.

“We have to get our schools back up for January… so we cannot have the schools being used as shelters. We have deployed social workers and assessors from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and from the Ministry of Local Government [and Community Development] to go into these shelters and, on a case-by-case basis, assess their needs and make recommendations or, where possible, implement solutions for the decanting of persons from these shelters,” Dr. Holness stated.

He said the Government is aiming to transition 90 per cent of shelter occupants into alternative housing.

“I can’t give a definitive date [when] that would happen but the public should know that we have started a process to humanely, with greatest consideration, decommission the shelters and find alternatives for the persons who are using them,” Prime Minister Holness added.