Orville Taylor | What a year!

No Jamaican child born in 2025 or 2026 should be named Melissa. Never mind that the name means ‘honey bee’ or the bearer of honey. She is the story of the year.

Wreaking havoc, more than 40 persons killed, thousands rendered homeless, innumerable houses suffering damage and almost all families affected.

More than 80 per cent of the country lost electricity, and to date, around 15 per cent are still in the dark. Black River, and other major towns will have to be rewritten. With an economic impact of US$8.8 billion, our projected path of development has taken a sharp curve downwards.

This female hit us hard. We huddled and hustled and are rebounding. Diaspora reacted early, international agencies, celebrities, both local and foreign, responded. Little by little, we are piecing it together. Some people are yet to be reached by anyone, including the government agencies such as the axiomatic Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

In some cases, it is simply apathy or resignation on their part, or they are too remote, or off the grid. But most people affected are trying to get back on track, at least temporarily.

The magnitude, power, and impact of Hurricane Melissa have no precedent in our modern history. Inasmuch as Hurricane Gilbert tore the place up 37 years ago, it was nothing like this. Melissa could easily eclipse all other events that occurred during the year as the number one story... But it does not have to.

It was a year of losses and not that any human life is more important than another. However, we lost some ‘mega actors’ whose impacts left chasms. Don Wehby of St George’s College and Grace group; reggae legend Jimmy Cliff; our own chief executive officer, the affable Anthony Smith; track and field stalwart and former national athlete, Vinton Powell; and our iconic footballer, Allan ‘Skill’ Cole,.

Entertainers Coco Tea, Max Romeo, Junior Byles, these are artists who helped to shape the landscape of Jamaican music and culture. This is not a column of obituaries. So, forgive me singling them out in a largely incomplete list.

Media veteran Owen James; pioneer returning residents activist Percy Latouche; my boxing hero Mike McCallum; and my ‘bredren’ and colleague, Professor Christopher Charles all joined the ancestors.

Yet as we foreshadowed the ravaging storm with a blistering 100 metres 10.61 championship record run by Jefferson Wooden, another Melissa, Tina Clayton, reminded the world that we are still the nation to beat in the ‘bills’, dropping Olympic champion Julien Alfred to bronze.

And then, he was Noah and built his own ark, an American sprinter and Olympic champion himself. Indeed, there was a flood, not the hurricane a month later. Well, we went two by two as in Genesis, 7:15. Male and female gold in the shortest sprint.

And the prophesy was fulfilled not in a straight line and not parallel. Truth is, from Grand Slam Track earlier in the year, the trajectory was not for gold but between then and two definitive Diamond League races, he became an eponym and drew an Oblique angle for goal.

Never mind that Seville means ‘the plains’, but the youth is from the mountains. As his name says, the angle is unusual - not right. As we saw the departure of the greatest female 100 metres sprinter of all time, Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce, a diminutive progeny of Usain Bolt’s coach, Glen Mills, restored Jamaicans’ place at the top of male sprinting.

And to drop some salt in the wound, Kishane Thompson joined Seville in another two by two ahead of Lyles. Beyond these athletes, there were many creditable performances, including Brian Levell jumping to number three behind Yohan Blake on our 200 metres list, securing bronze.

It was a privilege sharing space with Blake as he finally received a belated national honour, Commander of the Order of Distinction (CD). By meeting Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw by the way, in an innocuous place, adds meaning to her securing her spot as the most accomplished Jamaican footballer ever, of any sex - 100 goals in league football.

Despite the Reggae Boyz failing to automatically qualify and being beaten like a stray dog who broke into a fowl coop by Curaçao, it could have been worse. Other sports took shame from our eyes as the bobsledders secured multiple medals, including two gold in a sport totally alien to our climate.

September came and the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) eked out a victory as thin as the reasons some have for attacking the Integrity Commission (IC). Difficult pills to swallow for some who were assured of wins; but we now have more female parliamentarians than at any time in our history. Still, the perceived impasse between the IC and Government is not a good look, and it needs to end.

Road fatalities are similar to last year. Yet, the data need to be adjusted for driving time, amount of road surfaces, total number of vehicles licensed to drive, as well as the aggregate of licensed drivers.

Finally, while tribalists knocked my opposition to wanton states of public emergency (SOPE), their blindness overlooked my faith in the constabulary and not the army in reducing the crime numbers. In a conversation with Senior Superintendent Eron Samuels and a small group a year ago, this social science graduate from the Department on the plantation unblinkingly looked me in the eyes and predicted with confidence the current numbers and the strategies behind them.

Kudos to the constabulary for bringing violent crime down to the lowest in 30 years. The correctional services will have more work, but it is okay to drop the SOPE.

Happy New Year!

Orville Taylor is senior lecturer at Department of Sociology at The University of the West Indies, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com