No One Should Be Turned Away from Emergency Shelters – Minister Mckenzie

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, has issued a firm directive that no individual should be denied access to emergency shelters following the passage of Hurricane Melissa.

The Category Five cyclone made landfall in Westmoreland on Tuesday, October 28, unleashing widespread infrastructural damage and displacing thousands across western parishes.

Providing an update during a press briefing at the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC), located at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) in Kingston on Wednesday (October 29), Minister McKenzie noted that approximately 25,000 Jamaicans are currently seeking refuge in shelters across the country.

“Since last night, more persons have been going into the shelters, and especially in the parishes that have been badly affected… a lot of homes have been destroyed. We are going to be looking, on a long-term basis, as to how we are going to deal with the numbers. I want to say to all shelter managers, parish disaster coordinators, and to the Municipal Corporations, no one must be turned away from the shelters, and we are not contemplating closing any shelters,” he added.

Mr. McKenzie stated that emergency shelters will remain operational until comprehensive assessments confirm it is safe to deactivate them.

“For the remainder of this week, no shelters must be closed. All shelters must remain open,” he emphasised.
Meanwhile, coordinated relief and recovery operations are under way to deliver critical assistance to those most severely impacted by Hurricane Melissa.

“We are now going to be moving to position ourselves to start to have relief supplies going out to the various areas once those areas can be reached. It is not going to be an easy road. We have seen the extent of the damage; it is going to take a lot of time,” Minister McKenzie noted.

The Government has launched the official Support Jamaica website, supportjamaica.gov.jm, to coordinate national relief and recovery efforts for those impacted by the hurricane.