Jamaica has received a shipment of humanitarian and essential supplies to support citizens affected by the passage of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa.

The delivery is the result of a coordinated effort involving the European Union (EU), France, the Netherlands, United Nations (UN) agencies, the French and Dutch Navies stationed in the Caribbean and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).

The relief items include water purification equipment, 500 shelter tool kits, 1,000 tarpaulins, 500 cleaning kits, 500 kitchen sets, 2,500 jerrycans, 1,000 buckets, 1,000 blankets and 1,500 mosquito nets.

In her remarks aboard the vessel at the Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited (KFTL) in Kingston on Monday, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, expressed gratitude for the supplies on behalf of the Government.  

“There’s such an incredible outpouring of generosity, of love, of care and solidarity in action being demonstrated for Jamaica here in the aftermath of the passage of Hurricane Melissa. Jamaica is not destroyed, and we are not daunted. We are a strong people. We are a resilient people,” she said.

The Minister underscored that Jamaica’s partnerships, which are grounded in strong international relationships, has allowed the country to deliver aid, support, relief and a strong recovery effort to residents of Hanover, Westmoreland, St Elizabeth, St James and Trelawny.

“As the items move off the ship, I look forward to hearing about their coordination and deployment through the JDF (Jamaica Defence Force) and getting them to the most needed communities, because there are several who have not even been identified formally on a list yet, because they are still marooned, and persons are still seeking to create access,” Johnson Smith said.

For her part, EU Ambassador to Jamaica, Dr Erja Askola, said there is a great deal of solidarity and commitment to support Jamaica’s recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Melissa.

“We have been working very closely together with EU member states like France as Team Europe, and we are combining EU funding, assistance and tools with member States’ assets and resources in Europe and here in the Caribbean. There is much more to come,” she said.

Dr Eskola advised that a Dutch vessel is expected on November 4, followed by shipments from Spain, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg.

“They are coming in with substantial, much-needed supplies. I’m talking about power generators, a mobile hospital, medical staff, mobile connectivity, as well as satellite connections,” she said.

For her part, CDEMA Executive Director, Elizabeth Riley, shared that much of the supplies came from the Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub in Barbados, which was established in May 2025.

“We’ve seen the benefits of pre-positioning relief supplies in the Caribbean space closer to home, where we have many impacts,” she said, explaining that this enabled CDEMA to dispatch relief less than a week after Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica.