‘You don’t see where the money go’: Beenie Man criticises Gov’t hurricane relief spending

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Dancehall veteran Beenie Man has criticised the Government’s handling of hurricane relief funds. Speaking in an interview with ITV News, one of the United Kingdom’s largest commercial news organisations, the entertainer criticised the distribution of disaster relief funds and warned that coastal development could threaten the livelihoods of Jamaicans who depend on the island’s beaches. His comments come amid continued scrutiny of the Government’s recovery efforts following Hurricane Melissa, which devastated sections of Jamaica in October 2025. An auditor general report revealed earlier this year 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. READ: Millions unspent Seemingly commenting on the findings, Beenie Man told ITV News reporter Cree-Summer Haughton that concerns about the distribution of public funds were nothing new. “This is nothing new that the Government get the money, the Government distribute the money the wrong way. The people who supposed to get the money haven’t been getting any,” he said. “These things, it’s a regular thing that happens. The money comes in and you nuh see where it go.” The dancehall icon argued that addressing the issue would require Jamaicans to unite and demand accountability rather than leave the responsibility to individual public figures. “It’s not for me to talk of it. It’s for the whole country to come up and stand up as one,” he added. In another snippet also shared to ITV News Instagram, Beenie Man also addressed the contentious issue of public beach access, which is reportedly the subject of an investigation by ITV News reporter Cree-Summer Haughton. According to ITV, campaigners have argued that less than one per cent of Jamaica’s coastline is freely accessible to the public, claiming that private developments and restrictions have increasingly reduced access for ordinary Jamaicans. The Government has challenged that figure, maintaining that 17 percentage points of the 21 per cent of coastline classified as public beach are free to access. It has also highlighted investments in public beach parks and other initiatives intended to improve access across the island. “There's no action that you can take. And the Government come and seh, ‘we own this land’— They're the Government. And the people who can do something, they're not doing anything either,” Beenie Man said. The entertainer pointed specifically to Hellshire Beach in St Catherine, a popular destination known for its seafood vendors and longstanding ties to the surrounding community. “The beaches that we’re talking about is beaches where people live on, especially, mi can tell you bout Hellshire Beach,” he said. “The people live there, like, you know, I know people who live there. Their job is to clean the beach, make sure the beach is right and everything.” He highlighted the beach’s reputation for steamed fish, escovitch fish, lobster and shrimp. “If the Government comes for that beach, there's going to be a fight. There's going to be a strong struggle because people live there, all of them life,” Beenie Man said.