By Cedric Johnson, Gleaner WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
AMID WIDESPREAD complaints from members of the public that hurricane relief benefits are being unfairly distributed, councillors attending the December meeting of the Westmoreland Parish Council, called for a thorough investigation into what they described as 'a scandalous situation'.
"I am disturbed at reports that persons who sustained no loss or damage have been receiving substantial sums of money in relief," said Councillor Earl Brooks of Little London. He pointed out that if the reports were true, it would be reprehensible.
Deputy Mayor Bertel Moore told the previous meeting of the council that he would take the matter up with the minister of local government and if no corrective action is taken he would 'take the people of his division out unto the streets in protest'.
"What has been happening is that the system of distribution is catering primarily to the greedy and keeping out the needy," said Derrick McKenzie, who expressed the view that the method of selecting and verifying persons for assistance needs to be revisited.
Councillor Laumond Senior alleged that some of the lists prepared by the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) had the names of some persons more than once.
Church leaders who have been distributing hurricane relief benefits to the members of their flock only, came in for scathing criticisms from the councillors, who argued that politicians should not have been excluded from the administration of the national hurricane relief effort.
"Because of the painful experience of hurricane Gilbert in 1988, disaster relief was taken out of the hands of the civil servants and the political directorate who are seen as corrupt," said Mayor Delford Morgan, who joined other councillors in calling for the decentralisation of both disaster management and the administration of relief. "We are no longer empowered to influence it," the mayor added.
