By Adrian Frater, New EditorWESTERN BUREAU:
INTENSE PUMMELLING from hurricanes Charley and Ivan has left the parish of St. Elizabeth badly beaten and bruised, but not dead. Residents now face a mammoth task to rebuild after the devastation caused especially from Ivan.
Electricity, water, food and building materials are now desperately needed.
At Friday's sitting of The Gleaner Editors' Forum in Junction, one of the many battered areas in the parish, community leaders were united in bemoaning the severe damage done to tourism, housing, roads, fisheries and especially agriculture.
"Our farmers have borne the brunt of the productive damage," said Housing and Water Minister, Donald Buchanan, who is also the Member of Parliament for South West St. Elizabeth. "The Government will not be able to provide complete assistance to everybody but we will be assisting those who are helping themselves, especially our farmers and those who have lost roofs." And as the various Government agencies scramble to bring emergency relief to the parish, Christopher Tufton, the newly elected Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) caretaker for South West St. Elizabeth, called for more urgency in the restoration of electricity and water to the parish. He also requested the creation of a proper distribution network for food and a relaxation of the General Consumption Tax (GCT) on building material as a temporary measure.
"I think the Government should remove the GCT on building material as a temporary relief for those who are seeking to quickly rebuild their homes," said Mr. Tufton. "I think a GCT break of three to four weeks would be most helpful at this time."
Yvonne Morrison, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (OPDEM) coordinator for St. Elizabeth, noted that 1,373 persons received food and other emergency supplies in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley and that the organisation is now faced with triple that number as a result of Hurricane Ivan.
"We are trying our best to get food to people in shelters and those housed in private homes," said Ms. Morrison.
She explained that the organisation is faced with a severe challenge as a number of persons are still marooned in Quick Step and water was again rising in New River and New Holland.
"We are also giving whatever plastic sheeting and mattresses we have to these people."
BUSINESSES UP AND RUNNING
Businesses in St. Elizabeth are now operational, with some owners playing an integral role in the rebuilding process.
"We have started an initiative through the chamber just asking businesses, whether or not you were affected, to contribute some money and within one day, we received $100,000," said businessman Marc Panton, president of the St. Elizabeth Chamber of Commerce.
"Our aim is to raise some $500,000 to address some of the basic needs at institutions such as the Black River Hospital."
Mr. Panton also noted that the chamber was working closely with the Canadian group, which is involved in the 'Nine Miles of Smiles' programme, and they are now putting together supplies of zinc, roofing material and tarpaulin which will be sent to Jamaica.
