As PM Holness Bemoaned Images of Desperate Jamaicans, His Government Routinely Fed Just 1 in 4 Hurricane Victims and Reduced Food Deliveries Going into Christmas

Charities may have helped fill the gap. But what will happen as charities leave?

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A group of hurricane victims on Dec. 13 that had come down to the main road from their community in the hill of Grass Piece district in Culloden, Westmoreland pleading for help.

Since Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on Oct. 28, the government has only provided food packages routinely to a quarter of the more than 600,000 persons that it says are in need.

That’s according to an analysis by 18º North based on disclosures by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) — the state entity leading the relief effort —that about 396,000 packages had been disbursed as of its Dec. 24 posting, and each package is supposed to serve four people and last, at most, five days.

The situation has been particularly paltry over the last two weeks heading into Christmas.

For one day last week, ODPEM, which falls under the Office of the Prime Minister, reported delivering as few as 625 packages to 74 communities, and despite queries, it hasn’t explained why.