Stuck in shelters

The lack of land ownership titles and funds for rebuilding materials are the main hurdles keeping over two dozen people in shelters across Clarendon, Manchester, and St Elizabeth – three of the parishes hardest hit by Hurricane Beryl.

The Category 4 storm struck the island over a month ago, downing power lines and ravaging homes across the island with the brunt of the effects felt in these three southern parishes.

Last week, several residents in the tri-parish area were without electricity with the Jamaica Public Service Company promising to restore full service in all parishes except St Elizabeth by Monday. A new month-end target was announced for the Breadbasket Parish.

But amid the electricity, water, and mosquito woes still affecting sections of the island, five weeks after the hurricane, several people are still in shelters, their houses unfit or unsafe to inhabit.

The Sunday Gleaner understands that the majority of the 13 adults still housed at the Rocky Point Community Centre in Clarendon do not possess land titles, which has delayed the rebuilding assistance available to them.

“Some people’s houses were completely destroyed so they would need a new structure,” noted Stacy Ann Henningham, physical planning coordinator at the Clarendon Municipal Corporation. “The issue at Rocky Point is that a lot of them don’t have tenure on the land that they were living on.

“The problem is the land issue, and even if they are to get assistance, we have to work out these different things first. So the corporation is working with the different organisations to sort these out,” she said, outlining that the adults at the shelter are accompanied by six children, at least three of them younger than five years old.

Late last month, there were 31 residents housed at the shelter, falling from a peak of 45 during the passage of the July 3 hurricane. Overall, approximately 277 people in the parish sought refuge in emergency shelters during the natural disaster.

321 homes destroyed islandwide

A government preliminary assessment a few weeks ago showed that Hurricane Beryl totally destroyed some 321 homes islandwide, 133 of which were in the parish of Clarendon. Another 617 houses in Clarendon were badly damaged, and 493 had minor damage resulting from the hurricane.

Last week, residents at the Rocky Point shelter – the only one of 25 still occupied in the parish – said they had no other choice, even as some confessed that they indeed had no title to the properties on which they were living.

Althea Brown told The Sunday Gleaner her home was totally destroyed and that assistance has been slow in coming – although she said she has ownership documents for her home.

“I have paper for my place, man. I have paper in my name for my place,” said Brown, noting that she has been living at that location in Rocky Point since childhood. “I don’t have the title. I have diagrams. I have the land drawn out and surveyed, but I don’t have the title yet.”

Curtis Ford, another resident of the shelter, said that while his sister has documents for the land on which their house is located, they have only received assistance to repair one room of the three-bedroom structure.

“It is my sister’s place. She pays her taxes and everything, and she has everything,” he offered, shimmering around the direct question regarding her ownership of the land. “But, ahm, it is going about two weeks now, and I heard that the work stopped because the guys that go around and fix the place, instead of using new zinc to fix the people dem place, they are reusing the people dem old zinc.”

There are an estimated 8,700 houses across Jamaica that were damaged by the hurricane, according to the Government, which last Monday began its distribution of relief cheques valued at $400,000 for destroyed homes, $150,000 for severely damaged structures, and $50,000 for dwellings with minor damage to aid in recovery efforts.

The money is being paid through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, whose minister, Pearnel Charles Jr, said the Government was exploring electronic payments and cash cards to expedite the grants and improve service delivery.

The situation in Manchester was a bit different for 61-year-old Angella Brown and her offspring – the youngest still attending school. The four are the last occupying the Grove Place Basic School, which was itself damaged by the hurricane.

The building doubles as a shelter upstairs, while the basic school is located on the ground floor. However, Hurricane Beryl’s wrath lifted the roof of the premises, forcing Brown and the other occupants to retreat downstairs. Now, she has transformed a classroom into her bedroom and the students’ toilet facilities into her bathroom.

Took no chances

Brown said she took no chances when the heavy gusts of wind kicked up shortly before the passage of the storm. Her adult children were initially hesitant but soon joined her when their living and verandah roofs were sent flying in the fierce wind.

With the roof gone, all the family’s possessions were soaked and damaged either by the rain or the wind.

Last week, she kicked aside bits of damaged household items as she took The Sunday Gleaner on a tour of what’s left of her house, which she said has been standing since Jamaica’s independence.

Already, she has received five sheets of zinc and some nails to repair the home, she noted; however, they are just a drop in a larger pool of needs. And while she remains housed at the basic school not far away, her supplies are constantly running low – and so, too, is her time as the new academic year approaches, she fears.

“The kitchen roof and so on, where we would cook, that got destroyed. One part of the [bed]room leave, but it can’t hold everybody,” she said, her hand a crutch for her tired face as she spoke. “I do feel comfortable here (shelter), but there is nowhere like your home. Here, you’re exposed; everybody knows what you are cooking. But when you’re home now, you have far more privacy.”

As Brown spoke last Friday, Keval Lewis, acting disaster coordinator turned up with a care package for her. It was loaded with food, toiletries, and other household items.

Grove Place is the last of Lewis’ shelters that is still operational.

“The shelter is still open mainly because their (Brown’s) home is still inhabitable,” he explained, adding that urgent efforts are being made to make the home liveable again.

“As it is now, we are still as prepared as possible for another hurricane. There are still some little things to tighten up on, but we stand ready to respond as the needs arise,” Lewis said, adding that the absence of electricity continues to make life hellish for residents of the parish.

In the meantime, Hyderine Dennis, her husband, Michael, and their sons Lajime and David Dockery, must remain inside the dining hall of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Top Burnt Ground in Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth, where they have been since the hurricane.

The church was one of the contingency shelters in the parish. All the others – and the 87 official shelters – were unoccupied last week, representatives from the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation revealed.

The roof of the family’s home not far from the church was completely ripped off, but even scarier, the walls of the hovel are caving in. The premises have stood for several decades, enduring several generations, and Beryl tested the last of its construction integrity.

Since the hurricane, the family has tried to reattach sheets of zinc to create a roof, but each attachment causes sections of the wall beneath to bend, crack and crumble, blighting its future.

Dennis is a member of the church and said her pastor has granted them permission to stay as long as they need until their house is repaired. However, with the back-to-school season approaching, she told The Sunday Gleaner that she has been working on more immediate needs.

“My husband does his little part-time day work so we can manage, but with school coming up, I went down to the Ministry of Labour [and Social Security] to get a grant for my son for booklist and school fees,” she said, expressing hope that more assistance will come their way to get them permanently settled in a comfortable, safe home.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com