KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) has condemned as a “wicked act” the findings of an auditor general report that the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) had only spent $26.2 million, or 1.8 per cent, of the $1.44 billion donated following Category 5 Hurricane Melissa as of February 23, 2026.

Speaking at a People’s National Party (PNP) press conference on Monday, Opposition Spokesperson on Social Protection and Social Transformation, Dr Angela Brown Burke, said the scale of devastation caused by the hurricane made the slow use of relief funds especially troubling.

“The scope of the need is staggering. I don’t know how many of us remember that in December last year Red Cross actually estimated that there were 156,000 homes that were damaged and approximately 90,000 families who were directly affected,” she said.