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Melissa Is Not Some “Mali Gripe an’ Fluxxy Complaint”, Dr Holness.
- aquest
- Nov 20
- 4 min read
This is the moment for Ministers to step back and let the experts lead.
In Jamaican folk speech, the phrase “mali gripe an’ fluxxy complaint” dismisses the petty and the inconsequential—the sort of minor fussing we tolerate with a smile before getting on with the day. But nothing about Hurricane Melissa has been minor. Nothing has been trivial. Nothing has been survivable through ministerial posturing, hurried press briefings, or those habitual banalities about “McGregor Gully,” “Taylor Land,” or whichever community is politically convenient to cite when the cameras are rolling.
Melissa is not some “mali gripe an’ fluxxy complaint,” Prime Minister Holness. It is a climate-intensified disaster whose scientific, economic, engineering, and psychological impacts demand a professional, not political, response.
The science was clear—long before the storm formed
Climate scientists at the University of the West Indies Climate Studies Group warned that the 2024–2025 seasons would be historically volatile, driven by sea-surface temperatures more than 1.5°C above average. NOAA confirmed the global pattern: rapid intensification events are now five times more likely than in the 1980s.
Melissa behaved exactly as predicted. The storm’s development was not an unforeseeable act of nature but the direct expression of well-documented climate dynamics. Yet ministerial messaging repeatedly suggested surprise, as though our scientists were whispering into the void.
The problem is not ignorance; it is disregard for expertise.
Engineers warned us too—years ago
Local engineers have long argued that Jamaica’s infrastructure is brittle, under-maintained, and stretched far beyond design capacity. They produced reports on embankment weaknesses, inadequate drainage, unstable hillsides, and overloaded river crossings. From before Hurricane Gilbert of 1988, local energy specialists have heralded mini-grids powered by renewables as a bulwark against massive island-spanning electricity grid failures and a cheaper alternative to fossil fuels.
Melissa proved all of them right.
Collapsed roads, failed culverts, unstable slopes, and flooded communities are not just the work of heavy rainfall. They are the consequences of political preference taking precedence over engineering judgement. This pattern recurs across administrations, but its effects become more lethal as climate risks rise.
Disaster psychology: When messaging goes wrong
One of the most important components of readiness is public trust. Studies from Japan, the Philippines, and the University of Michigan show that consistent, expert-led communication improves evacuation compliance and reduces disaster mortality.
What Jamaica received before Melissa’s landfall was a muddle: measured warnings from the Meteorological Service, overshadowed by political voices eager to reassure, soften, or “manage” the narrative. Citizens took cues from the wrong source, and some delayed preparation as a result.
Risk communication is not a ministerial talent. It is a professional discipline.
The economic shock is real and long-term
Preliminary analyses easily place Melissa among Jamaica’s costliest disasters. Agriculture suffered catastrophic losses; the small tourism sector along the South Coast is battered; informal workers—fishers, artisans, small sellers—face ruin; and public infrastructure damage will require billions.
This is not a moment for ribbon-cutting instincts or politically curated site visits. It is a moment for:
cost–benefit modelling
climate-risk-based budgeting
prioritisation of resilient infrastructure
transparent procurement
evidence-based agricultural recovery
engagement of international climate finance mechanisms
Technical expertise, not political choreography, must shape these decisions.
The governance lesson: know when to step back
For decades, Jamaican Cabinet culture has struggled to differentiate between policy leadership and operational control. The urge to micromanage has damaged sectors from education to energy—and now disaster response.
Melissa is a signal event. It exposes the limits of political command in a domain governed by science, engineering, hydrology, medicine, and logistics. The best-performing disaster-prone nations—Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Netherlands—share one feature: professionals lead operational decisions, and elected officials create enabling conditions.
This is not radical. It is simply wise modern governance.
The path forward: trust the experts
Jamaica’s recovery must be built upon three pillars:
1. Scientific leadership
Climate scientists and hydrologists must shape mitigation, modelling, and long-term adaptation.
2. Engineering autonomy
JIE-certified engineers and independent geotechnical experts must direct the rebuilding of roads, bridges, slopes, and drainage.
3. Professional communication
ODPEM, the Met Service, and psychological first-aid experts must manage the public narrative—calmly, consistently, truthfully.
These shifts would not diminish the authority of Ministers; they would restore public confidence.
A final word
Melissa tore at the foundations of Jamaican life: our homes, our roads, our farms, our mental stability. It is an insult to the nation—and to our suffering—to treat such devastation as if it were one more episode in the political news cycle, padded with DM's predictable references to “McGregor Gully” or “Taylor Land” and DV's ' % tages ' that emerge each time water rises.
This is not a minor inconvenience. Not a communications problem. Not a moment for defensiveness or bravado.
Melissa is a climate warning written in debris, floodwater, and grief. Jamaica must respond with competence, humility, and truth.
Melissa is not some “mali gripe an’ fluxxy complaint,” Dr Holness. And this is the moment for Ministers to step back and let the professionals lead.
by Dennis A. Minott, PhD.
November 20, 2025
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