No fallout

DESPITE concerns from some quarters over the slow spending of Hurricane Melissa donations, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Sheila Sealy Monteith says the Jamaican Diaspora has not raised any complaints about how its contributions are being used. Sealy Monteith told Parliament’s Internal and External Affairs Committee on Thursday that the ministry had “many opportunities” to receive feedback from the Diaspora but had not received any indication of concern. The assurance came against the backdrop of concerns about the pace at which millions of dollars donated following Hurricane Melissa have been utilised. Category 5 Melissa left immense damage after slamming into Jamaica’s south-western coast on October 28, 2025 and swept across western and north-western parishes. During the committee’s deliberations with the ministry, Opposition Member of Parliament Dr Kenneth Russell raised the Auditor General’s finding that only about 1.7 per cent of the donated funds had been used months after the contributions were made. “Has the ministry, one, received any feedback from the members of the Diaspora and the donors about the slow use of their contributions? And secondly, is the ministry concerned about the reputational risks done to the country and the effect it will have on your ability to raise funds should a similar situation recur?” Russell queried. Sealy Monteith responded that the ministry had not seen evidence of a decline in confidence in Jamaica’s ability to handle international support. “We have used the strength of our diplomacy to ensure that countries who wish to contribute are enabled to contribute, that we are able to record it. We are providing direction for them, and we pass them on to the relevant authorities. We have not received any indication to date that there has been a loss of confidence in our abilities to use it,” she revealed. The permanent secretary stressed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade’s role is primarily to facilitate international assistance, rather than to determine how the funds are ultimately spent. She said the ministry works with other government entities to ensure that countries and other contributors wishing to assist Jamaica are able to do so and are directed to the relevant authorities. Sealy Monteith also suggested that the pace at which contributions are absorbed and deployed must be considered in the context of the capacity of the receiving authorities to use the support. “I think people understand also that when support comes in, it requires the ability to be able to assimilate and to use, and that comes over time as well,” she said. “So, if you’re asking me whether there’s been a fallout of interest and solidarity, I have not seen that. We continue to be a preferred guest on many agendas, and Minister [Kamina Johnson Smith] had a schedule in New York last week that was head-turning because everybody wants Jamaica to be at the table, to sit on our committees, to be there,” she added