A man stands in front of a house damaged by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
AFTER THE official launch of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-sponsored Civic Dialogue Project a few months ago, the Portland Cottage Citizens Association invited members of the Civic Dialogue Project team to visit their community and conduct a Civic Dialogue session. Members of the team visited the Portland Cottage community on Thursday, November 3, and what a visit it was!
The leaders of the citizens. association then took their Civic Dialogue guests on a tour of the community. First to Salt Pond, now declared a disaster zone, to show where Hurricane Ivan's devastating power had taken homes from their foundations, removed roofs from most buildings and taken the life of several people.
The persons from Salt Pond said "we have learned our lesson well and will not be caught by the storm surge of a hurricane again." The resilience of the community was reflected by the fact that the roofs of most houses, removed by Ivan, had been replaced - some with great creativity.
NEW HOUSING SCHEME DEVELOPMENT
While on the way to the new housing scheme being built to relocate persons that currently live in the disaster zone, there was a dialogue session with the M.P., Ruddy Spencer and Councillor, Mr. Maragh. Mr. Spencer explained that road construction; better street lighting and other infrastructure repairs were the greatest needs of the community. However, his active representation seems to have resulted in several post-Ivan improvements in the community.
ELEVATED
The next stopping point was the construction site of the new housing scheme, which should be finished soon. The new scheme is sufficiently elevated to reduce vulnerability to future hurricanes while providing the expectant residents with a nice view of the sea. The only problem was associated with water flowing from the scheme and flooding the home of a concerned lady nearby.
After a stroll past the fishing boats and down to the beach, from where much of the southeast coastline of Jamaica could be viewed, the dialogue group drove to the Civic Centre where another group of citizens was seated eagerly awaiting the start of the Civic Dialogue session. After a prayer, the combined group watched the four civic scenarios - Paradise Lost, Sitting on the One One Coco, Nose Mus Run and Get up Stannd Up. A vibrant Civic Dialogue session developed in which community members expressed their desire to Get Up Stand Up and participate in the development of their community, which is a potential mini tourism mecca.
POTENTIAL MINI-TOURISM MECCA
The area is endowed with the critical ingredients that could attract thousands of tourists including:
The sea:
Nice beaches
Fish to fry
A salt pond which can produce Portland Cottage salt
Boat tours to the nearby cays and the area now declared a disaster zone which was covered by the storm surge from Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan T-shirts
Stories of how people managed to survive (as well as those who did not) Hurricane Ivan
Llyrics from the talented local Dee Jay 'King Thermos' who has written over 700 songs, one of which provides a commentary of the impact of Hurricane Ivan
Verses from young dub poets.
A BEAUTIFUL PLACE
The community also recognised two other important success factors: its proximity to the Kingston Metropolitan Area and the media coverage due to Hurricane Ivan which resulted in people from all over the world hearing about Portland Cottage - branding opportunities were therefore possible (even though some people don't know where it is and think such a beautiful place with such a name must be a residence in another parish!)
At the end of a very positive
discussion with participation from a broad cross-section of the community, the residents agreed they would work with the Civic Dialogue Project, the political representatives and their resident Peace Corps representative, Mr. Christian Lofton, to put together a plan for developing the community incorporating work done by other agencies.
