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GDF rebuilds 200 roofs in hurricane-hit Jamaica
(Kaieteur News) – The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) has completed the rebuilding of 200 homes roofs in Jamaica destroyed by Hurricane Melissa, fulfilling a commitment made by President Dr. Irfaan Ali as part of Guyana’s regional humanitarian response.
The announcement was made on Sunday via a statement posted on the President’s official Facebook page. During a visit to hurricane-affected communities in Jamaica last month, President Ali pledged to assist with the reconstruction of 200 roofs, in addition to relief supplies already dispatched to the island. That commitment was honoured through the deployment of GDF engineers to the hard-hit Westmoreland as part of a major regional response led by Guyana.
Members of the Guyana Defence Force during the construction of 200 roofs in Jamaica.
Nearly one million Jamaicans were affected by Hurricane Melissa, with more than 150,000 homes damaged or destroyed. The scale of devastation has placed immense pressure on Jamaica’s recovery efforts, with the storm causing an estimated US$8 billion to US$8.8 billion in physical losses. According to the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), this represents approximately 41 percent of Jamaica’s 2024 GDP, making Melissa the costliest hurricane in the country’s recorded history.
During a high-level CARICOM tour on November 17, 2025, Presdient Ali had said the devastation in Westmoreland and St. James was indescribable. He said only an on-the-ground visit reveals the magnitude of the crisis. “You have to be here to see this devastation. There are no words,” Ali said. “But the resilience and strength of the Jamaican people tell you everything about the Jamaican spirit.”
As part of Guyana’s broader relief mobilisation, President Ali said additional manpower, equipment, food, water, tarpaulins, building materials, chainsaws, generators, and storage tanks would be sent to Jamaica. He stressed that the most urgent priority was the rapid completion of the first 200 roof repairs, a target that has now been achieved. “We want to move very quickly to have 200 roofs completely redone, starting right here in this community,” President Ali said at the time. “Prime Minister Holness has set a tight schedule to get everyone under some form of shelter before Christmas, and we will support that fully.”
A Global Rapid Damage Estimation (GRADE) assessment conducted immediately after the hurricane evaluated impacts across residential, non-residential, infrastructure, and agricultural sectors. Preliminary findings indicated that 41 percent of the damage was to residential buildings, 33 percent to infrastructure, 21 percent to non-residential buildings, and 5 percent to agriculture, including livestock and related infrastructure.
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