11,000 ROOFS Cases Await Funding

• More than 11,000 cases are payment ready.
• Over 49,000 beneficiaries have been assisted.
• 106,350 beneficiaries assessed as eligible.
• New funding is needed for further payouts.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, October 28, 2026. More than 11,000 households whose hurricane repair grants are ready for payment could receive assistance over the next two weeks, subject to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security receiving additional funding, according to an update delivered at Wednesday’s post-Cabinet briefing.

The ministry reported that more than 49,000 beneficiaries have been served under the Restoration of Owner or Occupant Family Shelters (ROOFS) programme. It said 106,350 beneficiaries had been assessed as eligible for support in the minor, major and severe damage categories. Those figures are not interchangeable: the eligible total is not a count of grants already paid.

Funding must reach payment-ready households

The update followed the Government’s announcement on October 27 of another J$9.65 billion for ROOFS. The ministry said that once the additional allocation is received, it expects to support more than 11,000 payment-ready cases, with further cases likely to complete verification during the following one to two weeks. The projection is not confirmation that those payments have been made.

The Government has set a target of reaching at least 90 per cent of the remaining eligible households before the end of December. That target concerns assistance, not a guarantee that every damaged home will have been fully repaired by then.

Some approved families remain uncontactable

The ministry also reported that approximately three to four per cent of beneficiaries approved for payments in the first phase had not received their grants because officials could not locate or contact them. Affected households have been urged to contact the ministry or their Member of Parliament to check their status and complete any outstanding verification.

Under existing ROOFS rules, the grant tiers are J$75,000 for minor damage, J$200,000 for major damage and up to J$500,000 for severe damage. The Office of the Prime Minister has previously confirmed a one-grant-per-household rule, with restrictions on receiving overlapping government housing assistance.

The October 28 figures provide a more precise measure of the remaining payment backlog, but the amount actually transferred to households and the number of additional grants redeemed will be the tests of progress.

Photo: Yhomo Hutchinson/JIS. File photograph from the March 11, 2026 ROOFS programme briefing.