Independent committee established to monitor Hurricane Melissa school recovery programme

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information has established an independent oversight committee to monitor the repair, rehabilitation and reconstruction of schools affected by Hurricane Melissa.

The Hurricane Melissa School Infrastructure Recovery and Resilience Oversight Committee will serve as a one-year oversight mechanism aimed at strengthening accountability, quality assurance and transparency throughout the school recovery programme.

According to the ministry, the committee will provide the education minister and the public with independent assessments of the progress of recovery efforts.

Attorney Rochelle Cameron will chair the committee, which also includes engineer Lyttleton Shirley; developer and National Education Trust (NET) board representative Rohan Grant; board chair representing western Jamaica and former education officer Vivette McIntosh-Yates; retired principal and former Jamaica Education Transformation Commission member Floretta Plummer; church leader Dr Elaine McCarthy Nunes; senior policy adviser and NET board member Rayharna Wright; and human resources development specialist Fabian Brown.

Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information Senator Dana Morris Dixon said the establishment of the committee forms part of the ministry’s efforts to ensure the extensive reconstruction programme is carried out with urgency, quality and accountability.

“The scale of the work before us demands rigorous oversight. We have to ensure that what is being reported truly reflects what is actually happening on the ground, that delays and quality concerns are identified early, and that the necessary corrective action is taken quickly. The education system deserves nothing less. Our objective is straightforward: schools must be repaired and rebuilt properly, projects must move at an acceptable pace, and the public must be kept informed about the progress being made and the challenges that remain,” she said.

The committee will receive and interrogate regular reports from the National Education Trust and the ministry’s Technical Services Unit covering project schedules, expenditure, physical progress, quality, safety, defects, risks and contractor performance. It will also undertake risk-based reviews and targeted site verification.

The ministry said that where concerns arise, the committee will be able to request additional information and corrective-action plans, monitor agreed actions through completion and engage contractors and delivery partners through the relevant contracting or technical authorities.

Material or unresolved issues may also be escalated to the minister.

Particular attention will be paid to significant safety or quality concerns, major delays, repeated contractor underperformance and discrepancies between reported project progress and conditions observed on the ground.

In addition to providing routine reports to the minister and the public, the committee will facilitate monthly briefings with representatives of key education and stakeholder groups.

These include the National Parent-Teachers’ Association of Jamaica, the Association of Principals and Vice Principals, the Ecumenical Education Committee, the Jamaica Teachers’ Association and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica.