PNPYO demands full accounting of post-Melissa spending

READ: Holness points to sabotage While acknowledging the measures, the PNPYO questioned why they were being introduced almost a year after the hurricane, noting that vehicle purchases and official travel had continued during the intervening period. The organisation called on the Government to disclose how much had been spent on those activities, whether the expenditure was necessary and how much the new restrictions were expected to save. It also urged the administration to explain how the projected savings would be redirected towards communities still awaiting assistance. The PNPYO argued that without specific figures and a clear plan for reallocating the funds, the public would be unable to assess the likely impact of the measures on the national recovery effort.

The organisation also raised concerns about transparency in the rehabilitation of hurricane-damaged schools, pointing to figures published in a full-page advertisement by the Ministry of Education and the National Education Trust (NET) in the October 25 edition of The Sunday Gleaner. It said the advertisement featured before-and-after photographs of rehabilitated schools and reported that 144 of 308 priority one schools had been restored, with $9. 19 billion spent to date. While acknowledging the reported progress, the PNPYO questioned the absence of the comprehensive public dashboard that Education Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon announced in July. According to the organisation, the minister had indicated that information on schools undergoing repairs, contractors, project costs and expected completion dates would be published online and updated every two weeks. The PNPYO said that although NET had released reports organised by priority level, the public still needed an accessible and regularly updated…