‘I just want the mud out of my house’
Published:Friday | November 14, 2025 | 12:07 AMAdrian Frater/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Amid cries for food, water, and the removal of mud-soaked debris, one resident of Catherine Hall in Montego Bay, St James, says his only wish is to clear the sludge from his home and move on from the horrors of Hurricane Melissa.
“All mi want is fi mi house sort out. The mud wah inna mi house fi get out a it,” said Barry Plummer, one of scores of residents of the Westgreen/Catherine Hall area who attended a town hall called by Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon to update residents on recovery efforts.
“Mi nuh want no handout. Mi nuh want no rice and flour and cooking oil ... not even clothes ... . Mi just want me house fi clean out,” said Plummer.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Dr Horace Chang, who is the member of parliament (MP) for St James North Western; Marlene Malahoo Forte, MP for St James West Central; and the head of the National Water Commission, the Jamaica Public Service Company, the National Solid Waste Management Authority, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), and the St James Health Services, as well as other agencies.
Residents pleaded passionately for water, food, and the removal of tons of mud-caked waste left behind when the Barnett River burst its banks, flooding homes with up to 12 feet of water and sludge.
Although the Government has pinpointed Westgreen and Catherine Hall as key in the effort to restore normality to St James, some residents want the area formally declared a disaster zone and the military dispatched to lead clean-up operations.
“The military has trained engineers, heavy-unit operators, construction workers, electricians, you name it. The army is equipped to handle these situations,” said one resident. “It is unfair – even impractical – to expect residents to clean up their houses, some with four feet of mud, on their own … . We have a lot of retirees and elderly people in here. They can’t manage on their own. The army is appropriately trained to help us.”
Chang, however, explained that both the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Jamaica Defence Force were already fully deployed across multiple affected communities, suggesting that residents should not expect any special deployment.
While some residents acknowledge that clean-up work has started and food assistance is being provided through care packages, others complain bitterly about being left out, claiming that relief is being distributed along partisan lines.
“If yu a nuh Labourite (Jamaica Labour Party supporter), you nah get nothing. Dem a tell you plain seh dem haffi deal with fi dem people first,” a young man told The Gleaner, saying that he was disgusted by what he had been seeing. “What I am seeing is raw, dirty politics at its worse. We need reputable people to spearhead the distribution, or some people will never get any help.”
However, for Plummer, he has no interest in what is being distributed or who is doing the distribution. He just wants the mud gone.
“Just like how dem a wash out other people house with fire truck, dem can go into everybody house and wash it out same way,” said Plummer, with desperation in his voice. “Mi nuh get no help at all. A mi son haffi come down from Kingston and a try fi help me wash out the place.”