Ghana to Send 48th Engineers Regiment to Support Post-Hurricane Reconstruction in Jamaica

President John Dramani Mahama has announced plans to deploy personnel from Ghana’s 48th Engineer Regiment to Jamaica to help rebuild communities devastated by Hurricane Melissa.

He said the team—made up of engineers, masons, carpenters and other technical experts—will assist in putting up temporary shelters for displaced residents. The 48th Engineers Regiment is known for its specialised military and civil engineering capacity.

The President made the announcement during the 80th Anniversary Celebration of the Manchester Declaration at the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park in Accra. The anniversary marks the Fifth Pan-African Congress held in Manchester, UK, in October 1945 under the chairmanship of Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

President Mahama called on African leaders to support Jamaica and Cuba as part of the continent’s commitment to Pan-African solidarity. He disclosed that he had spoken with Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, who, together with other Caribbean leaders, was in Jamaica to assess the scale of destruction caused by the hurricane.

He noted that this was the first time Caribbean leaders were seeing the full extent of the damage. Ghana has already sent relief items including rice, medicine, mattresses, blankets, buckets and other essentials to both Jamaica and Cuba.

According to President Mahama, Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness highlighted that their most urgent need is temporary shelter for families left homeless by the storm.

Ghana’s Foreign Ministry has since written to the African Union encouraging member states to contribute materials such as blankets and tarpaulins to support relief efforts.

President Mahama urged African nations and the global community to join Ghana in extending practical support to the two Caribbean nations. Former President John Agyekum Kufuor attended the event.