Dayton Campbell | We survived the storm, but we are still waiting for the recovery

On October 28, 2025, the eye of Hurricane Melissa came ashore at New Hope, and for a few terrible hours the wind took everything that was not tied down and much that was. The roofs were gone, but the resolve was not. I walked those streets in the days that followed, as I walk them now, and I saw neighbours pulling strangers from the rubble, sharing what little water remained, and holding each other upright when the grief was too heavy to carry alone. That is the East Westmoreland I know. That is the constituency I rise to defend.

Twelve months later, not enough has changed.

To be fair, some roads have been cleared. Some power has been restored. Some families have received help. But progress has not come soon enough, and what help has come has come too slowly for the families still waiting. A drive through Bethel Town, through Petersville, through many communities whose names rarely reach the evening news, tells the story better than any ministry report. The pace of recovery in these places is slow, painfully so, and the people there know it because they live it every single day.

The closure of schools in Chantilly and Cairn Curran came without any discussion, without a public meeting with the community. A school is a promise to a child. When that promise is withdrawn in silence, the community is left to wonder what else will be decided for them, or about them, without their voice.

The destruction of the health centre in Whitehouse made healthcare delivery onerous for the residents. For a healthy person, a distant clinic is an inconvenience. For a grandmother managing diabetes, for a man recovering from surgery, it can be the difference between dignity and despair.

Roads, water tanks, water supply, bridges, and drains were severely damaged. A perfect example of this is the urgent repair of the road from Cave to Kentucky, which is in a most deplorable state and requires urgent attention. The communities will be cut off from their basic services and needs. Further, housing sustained the most significant impact, with over 4,000 homes damaged. A number of houses still carry tarpaulins on their roofs. People remain in shelters. The ROOFS programme has not benefited the majority of the constituents it was designed to serve. I say this not to assign blame casually but because a programme that reaches the few while the many wait is a programme that needs fixing, and it needs fixing now.

The deeper problem beneath the tarpaulins is land tenure. Until tenure is settled, families cannot put up more permanent and resilient structures. They cannot borrow against their property. They cannot plan beyond the next rainy season. And until the water systems, the drains, and the bridges are rebuilt to a standard that can withstand what the sea now sends us, every temporary repair is simply an invitation for another disaster. Board houses, and too many communities filled with them, remain exposed. We are rebuilding on ground that the next storm will test, and we owe the people better than a gamble.

This account is an audit because accountability is the first act of respect a government owes its people. The families of East Westmoreland have shown extraordinary patience. They have shown resilience that is humbling. But patience is not a substitute for policy, and resilience is not a licence for neglect. No community should have to survive its own recovery.

I would be ungrateful if I did not acknowledge what community spirit, matched with generosity, has achieved. Without the help of local and international donors who supported my Adopt-A-Family initiative, forty new homes, relief supplies, and assistance to hurricane victims across Eastern Westmoreland would not have happened. That partnership between a constituency and those who believed in it has changed lives, and I thank every donor and every volunteer who made it possible. But voluntary effort, however generous, cannot replace the duty of the State. It can fill a gap. It cannot close one.

So let me speak now to those who hold the resources and the responsibility. The Government should treat the rebuilding of East Westmoreland as urgent. Set clear timelines, publish them, and report against them publicly so that every family can measure progress for themselves. Conduct real consultation with the schools in Chantilly and Cairn Curran, and ensure that the conversation is with the communities they serve. Restore the health centre in Whitehouse. Complete the ROOFS programme until the tarpaulins come down and stay down. Settle land tenure so that people can build for the future rather than patch for the present.

To the local and international donors and partners: your support after Hurricane Melissa was real, and we are grateful for it. Now we ask you to insist on delivery. Fund resilience, not just relief. Help rebuild drains, bridges, and water systems that will hold. Attach transparency to every dollar so that help reaches the household.

And to the people of East Westmoreland: keep holding each other up. Keep demanding better. Keep records, keep asking, keep showing up at the meetings they would rather not hold. You are not asking for charity. You are demanding structural equity to rebuild stronger.

One year ago, the wind took the roofs. It must not be allowed to take the future. The blue tarpaulins flying across East Westmoreland are a verdict on a year, and they are a question put to every leader who promised that help was coming. We know the answer the people deserve. It is time the recovery finally arrived.

Dr Dayton Campbell is the member of parliament for East Westmoreland.