CAPRI recommends that government make ROOFS programme permanent disaster relief mechanism

October 30, 2026

The Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) has recommended that the Government should make the Restoration of Owner or Occupant Family Shelters (ROOFS) programme a permanent feature of its disaster relief mechanism.

CAPRI said this will ensure that relief is accelerated and deployed to the most vulnerable in the event of future disasters.

These and other recommendations were presented in the CAPRI report entitled ‘Higher Ground: Lessons from Hurricane Melissa for Resilience, Relief and Recovery’.

It was presented at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre in St. James on Wednesday.

The research identified several critical flaws in the country’s public service delivery and relief efforts, following Hurricane Melissa last year.

According to CAPRI’s research fellow, Aleem Mahabir, some specific relief programmes for affected citizens were only developed in the aftermath of the hurricane.

He argued that the most vulnerable, such as the elderly and pregnant women, should have been prioritised for relief support.

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He expressed concern about the slow pace of disbursement of relief funds, due to a bureaucratic approval process.

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Mr Mahabir said the data from the ROOFS programme should be linked to a database of vulnerable households going forward.

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