Comeback trail

With Jamaica’s tourism products experiencing appreciable rebound following the displacements brought about by Hurricane Melissa last October, privately owned attractions are also fighting to get back to pre-hurricane operations.

Nearly four months after the Category 5 storm battered sections of western Jamaica, Paul Fearon, chief executive officer of Jamaica Zoo and Waterfalls, is staring down the barrel of over J$300 million in damage.

Jamaica Zoo, which has been in operation for more than 15 years, is located in Lacovia, St Elizabeth, where the hurricane destroyed several acres of trees and vegetation critical to the jungle effect that forms part of the attraction, and also tore off the roofs of the restaurant and other buildings on the property.

In addition, the winding roadway to the picturesque facility was completely blocked after Melissa ravaged the parish.

So extensive was the damage to the facility that there was serious doubt the business would rebound.

Although reopening in December, Fearon told The Gleaner the number of visitors to the facility is a far cry from those recorded before Melissa where, in peak season – March, April and the summer months – up to 1,500 visitors trekked to the zoo each day.

The devastation could have been even worse had Fearon and his staff not taken the hurricane warnings seriously, making preparations to ensure the safety of the animals by housing them in a specially designed structure, where they rode out the storm, along with members of staff with adequate food and air conditioning powered by generators.

“It (the building) was actually designed for hurricane and any kind of floods and anything like that. It has a thick triple wall at the back, in case of any kind of rubble. The back of it don’t have any kind of window or anything like that. [It] is a solid wall, and it has a drain at the back that leads to the natural drain, so that if anything from the mountain comes down, it goes to the back door and goes to the drain. So the whole building was built for disaster,” Fearon told The Gleaner.

CLEAN-UP FOR WEEKS

Apart from the exotic animals, trees and vegetation form the backdrop of the zoo experience, with monkeys swinging in the jungle and tourists introduced to fruits and trees indigenous to the island.

“Most of those trees that you see up the hill, the top of them blew off. They were on the lawn, [they] covered the whole thing. We had to rent tractors, trucks, bobcats, chainsaws for weeks, cutting up the debris and taking them off the premises. When we include damage to equipment, like the pressure fry machines, we are looking at around US$2 million.

“I consider myself to get maybe the biggest damage in St Elizabeth because, bear this in mind, you know, the average business, whether government business or whether just normal business, sits on, for argument sake, maybe five acres of land. But [the zoo is] fully operating on a minimum of 35 acres of land; like, use 35 acres on a daily business, and every inch of that 35 acres was damaged.”

The roads leading to the facility were impassable in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane.

“When I get that one up and running I see hopes and start feel that I could do it. In a week, we were able to clear half of it with 20 power saws each day; we hired workmen to use the power saws, which we rented.”

The hurricane also resulted in a negative impact on the economy of St Elizabeth and neighbouring parishes, where his employees reside.

According to Fearon, during the peak season prior to the hurricane. as many as 120 employees were engaged, but that number now stands at just 20.

The area is a high-traffic tourist destination, with Jamaica Zoo in close proximity to other attractions, including YS Falls, Black River Safari and Holland Bamboo.

“So when persons are coming to St Elizabeth, they don’t just say, ‘Oh, I am going to Jamaica Zoo’; and those other attractions were damaged as well, so it goes hand in hand. I am open, and I think two or three of the main ones are also open. So them being open now, and just maybe start marketing, from there hopefully we all come back together, but we just hope for the best.”

Fearon is hoping marketing efforts will bring back the numbers, with the Easter break looming and the summer months to come, and together with his staff has started the process of restoring the natural beauty, including replanting uprooted trees.

karen.madden@gleanerjm.com