The Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information has established a Hurricane Melissa School Infrastructure Recovery and Resilience Oversight Committee to ensure accountability in the rehabilitation and repair of schools affected by the hurricane.
Portfolio Minister, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon, made the announcement during Wednesday’s (September 16) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.
The Committee’s members are Chair, Rochelle Cameron; Lyttleton “Tanny” Shirley; Rohan Grant; Vivette McIntosh Yates; Floretta Plummer; Dr. Elaine McCarty Nunes; Fabian Brown; and Rayharna Wright.
“Their goal [is] really to help us in terms of accountability, quality assurance and transparency across the repair, rehabilitation and reconstruction of public education facilities affected by Hurricane Melissa,” she said, reiterating that more than 300 institutions were severely damaged by the Category 5 cyclone, which impacted Jamaica in October 2025.
“I will say, [for] some of those schools… it’s new build. The buildings don’t exist, so you’re starting from scratch. Some of these [projects] are going to go into next year, and some [of the larger ones] will [extend] into the following year,” the Minister added.
Senator Morris Dixon said the Committee has been established for an initial one-year period to provide an additional layer of accountability, “so that I can get, on a routine basis, independent assessment of the progress and Jamaica can also get that independent assessment”.
The Committee’s mandate includes reviewing, receiving and scrutinising regular progress reports from the National Education Trust (NET) and the Technical Services Unit (TSU).
“They’ll get project status, schedules, expenditure, quality, safety, defect risks and contractor performance. They’re going to get a lot of information that they will be assessing and they’ll be doing quite a bit of quality assurance. They’ll also be asked to identify any delays, defects, capacity constraints, and unresolved approvals,” Senator Morris Dixon said.
“In many of these schools, we actually have to be getting approvals because we’re doing completely brand-new builds. Also, we’ll be asking them to look out for any barriers to timely and satisfactory completion of schools. They will also work to engage with the contractors and other delivery partners through the relevant contracting or technical authority to clarify what challenges may be there,” she added.
The Minister further stated that the Committee will also be responsible for making recommendations on project sequencing, corrective measures, contractor performance management, quality improvement and risk mitigation.
Meanwhile, Senator Morris Dixon said the Committee members will visit schools, intervene where necessary, and provide updates and recommendations to the Minister and the Permanent Secretary.
“These are all individuals who are committed to Jamaica, committed to education, want to see this historic work happen and lead to the benefit of our children,” she stated.
