This marked the Ministry’s inaugural participation in the conference and provided an invaluable opportunity to showcase the work of the Ministry and its agencies in the Diaspora Marketplace. Through meaningful engagement with Jamaicans living overseas, the Ministry sought to foster strategic partnerships and strengthen connections with the diaspora.

JAMAICA FIRE BRIGADE

For the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB), the conference presented an opportunity to reposition the organisation in the minds of the public as an agency whose responsibilities extend far beyond firefighting. The Brigade highlighted its diverse range of services, including its Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations through its Drone Unit, its Emergency Medical Services, its humanitarian assistance services, and other specialised emergency response capabilities.

The JFB also underscored its indispensable role in the country’s development process. Without its building inspections and approvals, construction projects across Jamaica would come to a standstill. As the agency responsible for assessing fire safety compliance and aspects of infrastructural integrity, the Brigade plays a pivotal role in safeguarding lives and property. Fittingly, the venue that hosted the Diaspora Marketplace itself required approval from the Jamaica Fire Brigade before the conference could proceed.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION

While rebuilding physical infrastructure is essential, Jamaica’s recovery, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, also depends heavily on social and psychological intervention. Central to this effort is the work of the Social Development Commission (SDC), one of the few government agencies with representatives serving all 775 communities across the island.

Throughout the conference, the SDC’s knowledgeable team engaged visitors by providing detailed insights into the agency’s programmes and initiatives designed to empower individuals and strengthen communities.

Among the featured initiatives was the Sport for Community Development Programme, which includes the National T20 Cricket Competition. This programme promotes community engagement while encouraging healthier lifestyles and positive social values. The agency also highlighted its Participatory Governance Framework Programme and the Local Economic Initiative, both of which equip grassroots entrepreneurs with the skills, knowledge, and resources needed to establish, manage, and grow sustainable businesses.

To complement these presentations, the SDC showcased products created by local micro-enterprises supported through its programmes and generated additional interest by raffling a National T20 cricket ball autographed by portfolio Minister, Hon. Desmond McKenzie.

NATIONAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY

The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) used the conference to shine a spotlight on its Plants and Gardens Division. While demonstrating the agency’s contribution to Jamaica’s beautification efforts, representatives also educated visitors on the environmental and economic benefits of composting. They shared practical guidance on how households can safely convert organic waste into valuable, reusable resources, reinforcing the importance of sustainable waste management practices.

BOARD OF SUPERVISION FOR THE RELIEF OF THE POOR

The Board of Supervision for the Relief of the Poor, a department within the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, is tasked with improving the lives of Jamaica’s most vulnerable citizens. Through the Municipal Corporations, the Ministry administers a range of poor relief services, including state-owned homeless shelters, drop-in centres, and infirmaries.

At the conference, Corporate Secretary Ms. Treka Lewis and Regional Manager Ms. Maureen James highlighted the Board’s wide range of services while engaging members of the diaspora on opportunities to support vulnerable Jamaicans. They also discussed avenues through which returning residents and overseas Jamaicans can contribute meaningfully to social welfare initiatives.

All in all, the Ministry’s participation in the conference proved to be a rewarding experience and underscored the value of highlighting the improvements and versatility of what Jamaica is today.

He made the disclosure during a truck handing over ceremony at the National Solid Waste Management Authority’s headquarters on Tuesday morning (June 30).

“One of the aspects of the Youth Summer Employment Programme this year, is that we’re going to be providing 200 jobs, out of the Youth Summer Employment Programme where we’re going to be providing about 10-15 youth summer employees to each Municipal Corporation through the SDC and they will be working from July until December, right through the Hurricane Season, and their responsibility is to work with the disaster coordinators,” the Minister said.

He also added that this year’s programme will take on a two-pronged approach, with one aspect mirroring the normal operations of YSEP where Jamaicans between the ages of 17-29 are employed for four weeks within the Local Government fraternity and paid a stipend upon completion of the programme.

Meanwhile the second phase, will focus on assisting the Municipal Corporation to better prepare and preposition resources and contingencies in case of any disasters.

“We want to be in a better position, so one of the features of the programme is that they will be going into vulnerable communities to look for those persons who are sick and disabled, who are living alone, so in case of an event, we know where to find them,” he said.

He added that the YSEP workers will also be responsible for carrying out assessments on roadway infrastructure, shelters and alternative safety measures should a disaster become eminent.

“to do assessments on roads, to find locations if something happens and they can’t reach shelters, there is alternative arrangements to be made,” he added, while using the opportunity to remind Jamaicans that hurricanes are not the only threat to the island and pointing to the increased number of felt earthquakes over the last few months.

Over the last 10 years, the Youth Summer Employment Programme has employed more than 100,000 young Jamaicans, with a record breaking 10,000 participants employed in 2025.

He made the disclosure during the grant handover ceremony at the Calvary Baptist Church in St James on Wednesday morning (June 24) where 84 churches received their cut of the $75 million allocation that the government earmarked to assist churches that sustained damage during the passage of the hurricane.

“We are going to be turning our attention to the parishes on St Ann and Clarendon and we’re going to be providing $50 million to assist those churches in Clarendon and St Ann”

This, in a bid to support more churches that were impacted by Hurricane Melissa.

Meanwhile, churches in St James received some $16 million to offset some of the cost of repair increasing the number of beneficiaries to more than 300 churches so far.

The minister urged religious leaders to continue to be vanguards of hope despite the setback as many churches suffered minor and extensive loss.

He also used the opportunity to again reiterate the government’s position of providing monetary support to churches.

“In every parish there was a vestry, and that is where the seat of government use to take place…When you have family crisis, who do you turn to?… When [are] you getting married, where you want to do it? And when you want your last rights… if the church is there to do all the things that make us happy as a people, why is it that the government can’t do something one time to make the church happy?” he questioned.

“What we have done is to offer churches, a way to clean up, to remove the debris, if you want to put on a roof or repair a window that is what we have provided” he added.

For his part, Mayor of Montego Bay, Richard Vernon commended the Minister for his persistence in ensuring that the initiative came to fruition.

“ Today is very important day because the church plays more than a spiritual role in our life, the church is the secondary institution of socialization… when we have our challenges, we run to the church, and it within this context that I must commend our Minister, despite all odds, stood up, when persons challenged him about contributing to the recovery of churches and said that they must be assisted,” he said.

Collectively, close to 500 churches across five parishes (St Elizabeth, Hanover, Trelawny, St James and Westmoreland) have benefited from the $75 million allocation.

“These include the prepositioning of equipment and personnel in strategic areas, 48 hours prior to a potential disaster, and the retention of a 30% Fuel Reserve as well as essential supplies, to ensure full operations for 72 hours after a disaster. Agreements are also being developed with suppliers and contractors to provide additional fuel and heavy equipment for disaster response. The NSWMA is also identifying alternative Disposal Sites for emergency use if access to official Sites is cut off in a disaster.”

The Minister stated that the Agency is still working to improve its public cleansing performance while ensuring optimal hurricane preparation. In this respect, he disclosed that 80 garbage trucks will be repaired to shorten waste collection schedules.

“Jamaica is divided into 4,275 collection districts, and the intention is to ensure that regular waste collection is done every 7 – 10 days right across the country. This is in addition to a specific project to collect 8-thousand tonnes of bulky waste”

“I am also making a special appeal to our citizens to practice the NSWMA’s motto in their daily lives: Jamaica’s Beauty is our Duty. The Agency’s target of collecting 1.2 million tonnes of waste this year, will be far easier to achieve if practices such as illegal dumping and the casual throwing of garbage onto the streets are significantly reduced.

Last year alone, over 2,300 anti-litter tickets were issued, and over 9-thousand litter removal notices were issued. However, we recognize that a unique intervention is needed to ensure greater levels of civic responsibility. Accordingly, the NSWMA will be implementing a special public education programme in this Financial Year, at a cost of $200 million.”

The Minister also announced new initiatives to ensure that parochial infrastructure is ready for the Season. “We will be implementing a Special Drain Cleaning Programme at a cost of $70 million. Under this Programme, each Division will be allocated Three Hundred Thousand ($300,000) for drain cleaning. This is in addition to the drain cleaning allocations given to the Municipal Corporations for the months of May and June through the Parochial Revenue Fund. We are also rolling out a Priority Parochial Road Programme, which will target badly damaged roads that connect communities, and roads that lead to critical places like Hospitals and schools. This Programme is valued at $350 Million, and I wish to emphasize that this is separate from the monthly allocations that the Corporations receive for road maintenance. “

In his contribution to the 2026/27 Sectoral Debate on June 3, the Minister reported that Infirmaries in Trelawny, Westmoreland, St. Ann, and St. Elizabeth, were severely damaged by Hurricane Melissa.

“The Ministry has been working diligently to rebuild and, in some cases, relocate these facilities. $150 million has been allocated for the relocation and reconstruction of the Trelawny Infirmary. $400 million is being provided for the relocation and reconstruction of the St. Ann Infirmary. The estimate for restoring the St. Elizabeth, Hanover and Westmoreland Infirmaries is $56.4 million, and works have been done to this point to the tune of $28.1 million. This year, a new wing will be built at the Spanish Town Infirmary at a cost of J$70 million.”

In reporting on the implementation of the concrete Indigent Housing programme, Minister McKenzie noted that construction activity had been affected by Hurricane Melissa. However, he disclosed that this year, $160 million will be provided to build more Indigent Houses.

On the long-standing issue of social cases at the island’s hospitals, the Minister announced a special effort will be made to address it this year in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, through the expenditure of J$200 million to increase the capacity of municipal care facilities, in order to release hospital bed spaces for people with exclusive medical needs.

With regard to Homelessness, the Minister reported that the Board of Supervision, in partnership with the Social Development Commission, completed the National Survey on Homelessness in the last quarter of 2025. The preliminary findings are that 2-thousand, 261 people were found to be homeless, with 52.5% of this number located within Kingston and St. Andrew.

He noted that over the last decade, an expanding network of Drop-In Shelters, Night Shelters and Transitional Shelters has been, and is still being built, to give these vulnerable Jamaicans secure spaces where their shelter, nutrition and medical needs are addressed.

“Phase Two of the Desmond McKenzie Transitional Centre for the Homeless was completed in the last financial year, allowing for a total capacity of 80 homeless people to be accommodated. The extension to the St. Thomas Night Shelter was completed at a cost of $12 million, and the Portland Drop-in Centre and Night Shelter was also completed at a cost of $55 Million. This year, the Marie Atkins Night Shelter will be renovated at a cost of $35 million”

Local Government and Community Development Minister Hon. Desmond McKenzie made the declaration as he made his contribution to the Sectoral Debate on June 3. He revealed that the encouraging levels of construction activity follow a trend of significant activity prior to the Hurricane, where between January and September 2025, 3,764 building applications were submitted, representing an 11% increase in the number of applications received, and an investment value of J$46.1 Billion. For this same period, the monetary value of the number of applications that were approved, was $164.2 Billion.

The Minister pointed out that construction activity after the Hurricane is even more impressive. “Between January and March this year, 1,377 applications valued at $68.8 Billion were submitted. The records show that this number of applications far exceeds total applications received for all Quarters, dating back to the April to June Quarter of 2023. Critically also, the analysis reveals that more people are applying for Building Permits, to ensure the structural integrity of their projects.

The most significant increase of 11%, was in building applications for small residential developments under 300 square metres in size. This signals strong activity to rebuild houses, small businesses and factories. 71% of the applications approved were done within 90 days, and the investment value of these approved applications stands at $36.1 Billion.”

Minister McKenzie also indicated that the continued acceleration of the Development Approvals process is critical to the success of the Reconstruction Phase. He specified that it is intricately connected to the responsibilities of the Municipal Corporations in their capacity as Local Building Authorities, and to the improved enforcement of building standards through the revised Building Code, which will be implemented in this Financial Year. “A critical feature of the new Code is that buildings are to be constructed to withstand Category 5 hurricanes.

There will also be stronger enforcement powers for Municipal Corporations, mandatory compliance checks, and stricter penalties for illegal construction in high-risk zones. The enforcement capacity of the Local Authorities will be strengthened, as the Ministry of Finance has given approval for a revised Establishment structure for the Municipal Corporations, which will facilitate the employment of more Building Officers.

The Minister also indicated that there has to be an improved public attitude to the efforts to improve buildings standards and spatial integrity. “…there has to be a clear understanding and acceptance among our nationally and locally elected representatives, as well as the general public, that it will not be business as usual. Long-standing reckless and dangerous practices will have to be replaced with order as the new normal in the built environment.”

This, after the government made a commitment last December to provide churches in the five most affected parish with grants to assist them with undertaking post-hurricane Melissa repairs.

In his address at the ceremony, Minister McKenzie underlined the importance of supporting churches crediting the Local government system to the early church.

“We can’t separate the state from the churches” said Minister McKenzie as he reminisced on the inception of the Local Government fraternity immerging from the vestry system.

“A lot of our church halls was used as shelters and there are still churches today, that is assisting us by using their facilities to continue to house and to provide for persons who are waiting for permanent replacement” he added.

Meanwhile, Minister of State in the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Delroy Williams, further added that the value of the church must never be undermined, as the body continues its job of restoration and community-based first responders.

“The many roles of the church within communities is critical… The churches play a major role in response and in restoration, and I am not talking about responding to their own issues as churches and restoring churches, but they play a major role in the restoration of community life” he said.

“The issue of ensuring that we have responders or response teams or response capabilities within communities that is an important aspect of our resilience infrastructure. Within communities across this country there are local community based responders that will assist in the event of a disaster and we believe that the churches can play, and will play a major role in assisting the government, the Ministry of Local

Government in creating this cadre of volunteers, this cadre of first responders in the event of disasters that are community based” Minister Williams said.

This partnership between the government and the churches comes, as the administration is looking to move away from using educational institutions as shelters in the face of another disaster.

This grant handover ceremony is the second of five such event geared towards assisting churches with minor rehabilitative work following the passage of Hurricane Melissa.

The inaugural National Day of Remembrance for the victims of the Eventide Home Fire Floral Tribute, which was held on the 46^th anniversary of the tragedy, served as a reminder of the legacies and lives that were lost that morning. Within 10 minutes, just after 1:00am on May 20, 1980, more than 100 women lost their lives when the Myers Ward became engulfed in fire.

During his keynote address at the ceremony, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, Minister of Local Government and Community Development, emphasized the importance of cementing the Eventide devastation history.

“This is a day of remembrance historical introduction of education, I look at some social media posting about Eventide home fire and in my response, many persons admitted that they genuinely had no knowledge of this disaster. This day of remembrance is an official opportunity, to expand awareness and to use the awareness to ensure that we never allow our vulnerable population to live or die in circumstances like that of the Eventide home”, he said.

“We will always cherish their memories and live the dream that they were never able to live” he added as he closed.

Out of one of the country’s most horrendous tragedies came renewed focus on the services and operations of homes for the aged. In 1985, the Vineyard Town Golden Age Home was built on a new site to replace Eventide under the leadership of the Honourable Edward Seaga. The Golden Age Home is the largest of its kind in the Caribbean and has capacity for 500 residents. It designed to prevent a repeat of history and to foster a communal environment where residents can interact with one another. Today, about 20 survivors of the Eventide fire reside there.

The two-day event convened with an opening ceremony and conversations surrounding inclusion in the built environment.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Delroy Williams, during his keynote speech recalled the first time he was instrumental in programme formation for people with disability, this was many years ago when he was invited by Professor Floyd Morris to participate in training the blind to use computers.

He further added that the limitations faced by people with disability is not just a national or regional concern, but a global issue citing that matters surrounding accessibility transcends specific disciplines and must be addressed through the lens of research and coordination in order to fully understand and solve these issues.

“While being mayor of Kingston… I was going through all the myriads of problems confronting cities across the globe I came across a phrase, and it was like “The problem of complexity”… and so I started to delve [into] it because cities do have problems and cities die, just as we die, if those problems are not addressed…In finding solutions, we have to transcend the disciplines, that’s where the coordination is important, that’s where the research is important, that’s where the Centre for Disability Studies is important…”he said.

He also highlighted the significance the Building Act of 2018 which was revised to incorporate International Building Codes and the rights protected under the Disabilities Act 2014. He further spoke to existing infrastructure such as roadways and drainage systems that might hamper movement for persons with disabilities.

“From the infrastructure side of it, the Building Act is critical and incorporating International Building Codes easily into law. Here in Jamaica it is part of advancing and addressing some of the problems we face within the built environment… our drain infrastructure, there are some drains that pose a barrier and serious issues to person with disabilities, our roadways… or just gain access to the sidewalk… that is something that we have addressed in the Building Act, there are still issues to resolve within that, because it is one thing to have the legislation, it is another thing to implement the legislation to make it into practise and that is where we are focused now with respect to built environment,” the Minister added.

Minister Williams went on to note that plans are afoot to increase the number of building and planning officers within the local authorities to ensure that the stipulations in the Building Act surrounding accessibility is adhered to by builders and developers.

In closing, Minister Williams lauded the Centre for Disabilities Studies for the strides they have made in amplifying the voices of the disabled and encouraged members of the community to continue the advocacy and the research as this will help to guide policymakers when making decisions that will impact the disabled community.

“Continue the advocacy, continue the training, but critically,…continue the research because the research is what will guide us as policymakers, and the policy formation process is a robust and rigid process, but it is informed by research,” he said.

Section 3(d) of the Building Act, 2018 stipulates that the National Building Code must facilitate enhanced amenities in general and require the construction of buildings that provide sanitary facilities, ease access and adequate amenities, for members of the public in general and person with disabilities in particular.