KINGSTON, Jamaica, Oct 28, CMC – Prime Minister Andrew Holness says Jamaica will sign an agreement with the United Kingdom (UK) for technical experts to support the country’s post-Hurricane Melissa reconstruction efforts.
Hurricane Melissa had caused damage estimated at more than US$9.9 billion when it slammed into Jamaica on October 28, last year. It is also blamed for the 45 deaths.
Holness told reporters that the agreement will be signed during the November 1-4 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that will be held in Antigua and Barbuda.
“Under this arrangement, Jamaica and the United Kingdom will co-fund on a 50-50 basis the cost of deploying technical experts from three firms – Arup, Mace, and Gleeds,” Prime Minister Holness said, adding that the firms comprise the UK Delivery Team, which supported Peru’s highly successful reconstruction programme following the devastating El Niño floods that impacted the country in 2017.
The signing of the agreement with the UK follows a visit by a delegation of Jamaican government officials, led by Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development with responsibility for Works, Robert Morgan, to Peru to view first-hand the infrastructure delivered by the UK team and examine the strategies used to accelerate reconstruction efforts.
Holness said that drawing on specialists with proven reconstruction expertise is the fastest way to strengthen the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority’s (NaRRA’s) delivery capacity while its permanent team is being established.
He said that several positions within NaRRA have already been advertised and that the recruitment process is progressing.
Holness said the reconstruction experts will work alongside Jamaican professionals, with capacity-building and knowledge transfer embedded in the arrangement.
“Our objective is to get projects moving faster, while equipping Jamaicans with the skills and systems to lead delivery over the long term,” Holness told reporters, adding that the NaRRA’s primary focus is reconstruction and resilience, while the relevant ministries, departments and agencies continue to provide immediate relief and household recovery assistance.
“NaRRA is designed to reconstruct better infrastructure and systems that will allow us to withstand the next disaster that may come, so that another generation doesn’t have to go back and start again. It is also designed not to burden an already dense and slow-moving public bureaucracy which still has work to do… still has projects to deliver,” Holness said.
He said that NaRRA will spearhead one of the largest public infrastructure programmes in Jamaica’s history.
“Through NaRRA and the wider public investment programme, we will rebuild roads, bridges, water systems, schools, health facilities, town centres, and communities to withstand future shocks,” Holness said, noting that the government’s goal extends beyond simply restoring what Hurricane Melissa destroyed.
“We are using the massive reconstruction effort to also improve productivity, create new engines of economic activity, and put Jamaica on a higher growth trajectory,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government says it has spent approximately J$84 billion (One Jamaica dollar=US$0.008 cents) in the response to the disaster caused by the hurriccane.
“This is the largest relief and recovery effort in Jamaica’s history. It is larger than the CARE programme that we executed during COVID,” he said, adding that the sum includes a US$150-million loan that was made to the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Company Limited to assist with electricity restoration.
It also includes more than $11 billion that has been spent, so far, on school repairs across the island and Holness said that, to date, 144 of 308 Priority One schools have been fully repaired with more resilient infrastructure.
He said that the country has received donations of approximately J$1.7 billion as of October 26, 2026, towards the Hurricane Melissa response.
“The donations amount to just under two per cent of the total expenditure of the Government’s – your resources,” Prime Minister Holness said, noting that J$750 million of the donated sum has been allocated to the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) to support the government and partner-led roof repairs element of the Shelter Recovery Programme.
He said that the funds were used to purchase materials, including zinc, lumber, nails and tools to facilitate the installation of 575 roofs by the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and partners.
Holness said another J$800 million was allocated to support the implementation of the semi-permanent housing solution component, with J$700 million going to the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development, and J$100 million to the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development.
CMC/kd/ir/2026