Fire, looters wipe out fishing beach operators
Published:Monday | April 4, 2022 | 12:10 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
After suffering more than $1.5 million in losses from two burglaries at her business place in less than two months, Blossom Paige is heartbroken after a predawn fire at the New Forum Fishing Beach in Portmore wiped out her restaurant Sunday.
Paige’s Malibu Cool Spot and Home Style Restaurant and 11 other wooden shops were razed along the south St Catherine beach. The fire started about 2 a.m.
Nothing was spared the wrath of the inferno, which also destroyed appliances, a boat engine, fish, foodstuff, and liquor.
“Right now, I don’t know what to think. This is my only source of income. It’s my bread and butter,” said Paige, struggling to compose herself. She put her fire losses at $2 million.
After suffering at the hands of thieves, she invested more than $200,000 in security infrastructure, including surveillance cameras, alarms, and shutters.
But all that has been for naught.
On Sunday, looters exploited the disaster, cleaning out well-stocked shelves and breaching gaming boxes, taking as much money as they could.
Paige, who is also the secretary of the benevolent society and operated the largest business on the fishing beach, told The Gleaner that she closed shop about 12:30 a.m. and was at home in Greater Portmore when she received the call about 2 a.m. that the bar and restaurant were on fire.
“When I got here, the firemen were trying to put out the fire, which had already destroyed the shops between my place and had reached my business. Nothing no save! I don’t know how I am going to restart. I have loans to pay,” she lamented.
District officer of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, Norman Purrier, who oversaw cooling-down operations, said two units responded to the blaze. However, when they got to the scene, the buildings were already reportedly engulfed in flames.
“The team has not been able to determine the cause of the fire. However, we have cordoned off the area so as to conduct further investigations to ascertain the origin of the fire,” he said.
An estimate of the damage was unavailable up to press time.
Meanwhile, St Catherine South Eastern Member of Parliament Robert Miller, who was on the scene Sunday, said he plans to meet with the Portmore Municipal Corporation and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to seek assistance for the fire-hit beach business operators.
“I observed also that there was some looting during the fire. I want to say that we condemn this practice, and I want to encourage the persons who were involved to return the assets that were taken away from these folks who are going through sad times as a result of their loss,” Miller said.