Shelter crisis

Shelter managers at Petersfield High School in Westmoreland are scrambling to relocate families displaced by Hurricane Melissa, as pressure mounts to free up classroom space for fifth- and sixth-form students preparing for critical external exams.

Shelter manager and dean of discipline J. Anthony Clarke confirmed that more than 140 residents, including 52 children, are occupying classrooms at the centrally located school after the Category 5 hurricane devastated western Jamaica late last month.

“I had a meeting with the principal, and he has instructed that fifth-formers should come back in,” Clarke told The Gleaner last week.

“I’m not sure what to say to the residents, because it’s a small school and all the classrooms are occupied. And yet we have to be preparing now for fifth-formers who have [CSEC exams] and sixth-formers who have CAPE,” he said, referring to the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate exams and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations.

He said urgent solutions are needed to both rehouse displaced families and accommodate returning students.

Clarke has reached out to several agencies for support, including help to erect a large tent on the school’s playing field to temporarily shelter residents and allow classes to resume.

“At the end of the day, we don’t want to be helping one half of society and not helping the other half, which are students,” he said. “We can’t put the residents on the street. We have to care for them, but we also have to care for our students, who need to be engaged in preparation for their external examinations.”

He is also appealing for construction materials to help residents begin rebuilding their homes.

Satellite-based analysis from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) indicates the storm left more than 4.8 million tonnes of debris behind. Tens of thousands of homes were damaged – particularly in St Elizabeth and Westmoreland, where entire communities were flattened and up to 90 per cent of buildings in some areas were destroyed. UNDP’s AI-based model estimates that as many as 32,500 people may have been internally displaced.

“What we need is assistance now for material – plyboards, tarpaulins, zinc – so they can go back into their communities and start rebuilding,” Clarke said. “We don’t want to just feed them and keep them here. We want to engage them in the community, to see if they can clean up. I’ve appealed for rakes and garbage bags, so we can help them get back to their normal lives.”

Clarke added that many residents are in need of psychosocial support, describing widespread trauma from the storm’s passage. A recent visit by Dr Grace Kelly of Northern Caribbean University provided preliminary assessments, but Clarke said significantly more help is required.

“They need to be processed,” Clarke said. “We’re asking for more of that service to help them return to a state of normality.”

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com