ECONOMY IN SHAMBLES

From roadside eateries to boutique beachfront guesthouses and attractions, small business operators across St Elizabeth are counting millions in losses following the passage of Hurricane Melissa nearly a month ago.

Despite significant damage, operators are eager to resume business, but with limited funds readily available, they are hoping the Government will step in to help save livelihoods and revive the local economy.

For more than 30 years, Rudolph Salmon, 68, known across New Holland as ‘Howie’, has operated a popular 24-hour roadside eatery serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner to commuters, farmers, and travellers. His establishment, Howie’s Healthy Eating Restaurant, he boasts, is also known for having one of the only free public restrooms along the route.

Today, the eatery that once fired up 100 pots daily is a shadow of its former self, running only 10 pots and offering breakfast alone, prepared by his wife.

The country’s most catastrophic hurricane, which has left 45 people dead and destroyed over 130,000 homes in hard-hit western and southern parishes, tore off the business’ entire roof, forcing a shutdown and leaving workers jobless.

“Mi need half a million straight up an di only thing mi have out a half a million dollars is $120,000,” Salmon told The Gleaner, explaining that what’s left of his savings has been dwindling rapidly as he struggles to stay afloat.

The storm not only crippled his business but left dozens of suppliers without a steady buyer.

“Mi have roughly ‘bout 50-odd people weh depend pon mi fi buy from dem – chicken, ground provision, egg – everything. Hog – everything – goat.

“Mi have one supplier weh a mi butcher man, him a lose like $80,000 every week ‘cause mi nah buy,” he shared, standing outside his business with the morning’s pots still sitting on the now-cold fireside.

Similarly, he said his chicken supplier was missing out on the weekly $105,000 he would normally earn for supplying the eatery with 300 pounds of chicken.

According to Salmon, business would still be booming if he had the resources to maintain operations.

Sceptical about receiving any government assistance

Adding to his challenges, he noted that utility costs remain high despite the service being down since the hurricane.

Sceptical about receiving any government assistance, Salmon plans to partially repair the roof so he can resume operations on a larger scale in time for Christmas.

Over in Black River, at the popular tourist attraction Black River Safari, its operator is also grappling with the storm’s aftermath. The hurricane destroyed the property, tearing down fences and partitions in the building and damaging an upper-level addition that was being rebuilt for a restaurant and bar. An outdoor snack area and bar were also ruined.

Four of the business’ six boats remained stuck in the morass when The Sunday Gleaner visited last Thursday.

One of the boat captains, Captain See, was seen clearing rubble and burning debris as workmen carried out repairs.

“As soon as we clean up this area here and the bathroom, get back a black tank and a pump, we ready fi start,” he said enthusiastically, noting that people have been calling and are eagerly awaiting the attraction’s resumption.

Despite the setbacks, Captain See said his boss is determined to resume tours as soon as possible, aiming to partially reopen for the upcoming tourist season.

Along the Treasure Beach shoreline, the destruction is heartbreaking, with several businesses extensively damaged or completely obliterated by massive storm surges.

At Katama Cabins and Villas, a boutique nine-room property, British-born operator Simon Newell said one-third of the property was washed away, along with two buildings, coupled with significant damage to a quarter of the fencing, botanic garden, and pool. The main building, with an upstairs lounge near the shore, appeared unstable, badly damaged by Hurricane Melissa, and at risk of collapsing.

“We are looking at fixing back, but due to funds and the cost of fixing back, it’s going to be a very, very, very slow process,” he said.

He noted that as a licensed tourism product, he has reached out to the Jamaica Tourist Board and is hoping that funding will be made available. Newell is also hoping to benefit from assistance from the Treasure Beach Foundation, which will be hosting a number of fundraising events.

“To fix everything, the beach wall, the building, we’re looking at a possible $16 million to $20 million,” he said.

Property had been fully booked for Christmas

Newell, who has operated the business with his wife for 15 years, evacuated all guests days before Melissa struck. The property had been fully booked for Christmas and for January to March, but reopening soon appears unlikely.

“If we open, it will only be a few rooms,” he said. “Business was already quiet before Melissa. Now it’s a major struggle.”

He noted that the guesthouse had taken a major hit during Beryl and that they had just completed repairs valued at $14 million a week before Melissa, after insurance payouts took over a year.

“It’s like getting blood from a stone,” Newell added.

“We had to borrow to fix back after Beryl and waited ‘cause if we didn’t, we wouldn’t reopen, and it’s going to be another 16 months. It’s just an ongoing struggle,” he said wearily.

Despite the setback, the Newells are keeping all six of their local employees on staff.

“We try do fundraising not just to rebuild, but to keep our staff in employment because it’s very important that they also build back, and without an income, they can’t fix back,” he said, noting that they are also helping people in the community, especially the most vulnerable, like the elderly, with food and materials.

He said it is important for him and other businesses to resume operations as soon as possible to kickstart the economy.

“Without kickstarting the economy, no one got any work, nothing gets bought, and the economy gets stalled, and you would think that the Jamaican Government would come in and say you need to get the business up and running. It is a fundamental thing that we have to think about – get the farmers, fishermen, tourism sector back up and running. That’s how the economy starts back,” he said.

A short distance away, Joseph Brown, operator of Joseph’s Hideaway Restaurant, Villa and Bar, and captain of Captain Joseph Adventure Tours, also spoke of his devastation and challenges, noting that he has never experienced losses like those from Hurricane Melissa.

At the Treasure Beach location, roofing from the bar, sections of the restaurant, and parts of the pool structure were torn away. His boats, used for snorkelling, fishing trips, and beach cookouts, also suffered extensive damage.

“It nuh pretty,” said Brown, while sharing a drink inside a bar with a worker repairing his boat on credit.

In Parotee, where Brown operated a second restaurant directly on the beach, the destruction was total.

“Everything disappeared – bathroom, kitchen, eating area gone,” he said.

Electricity outages compound the hardship

Brown estimates it will cost $5 million to $6 million to repair both restaurants and the boats, noting that he was not insured.

Electricity outages compound the hardship.

“I’m using a generator alone. Since the storm, mi gone over $150,000 [in fuel costs]. More than my monthly light bill.”

Despite government promises of support, Brown says his savings are running low.

“Tourism mash up. Mi lose all mi fish traps. Nothing a bring in money. But mi not collapsing. Mi determine,” he said.

He hopes to open in time for Christmas, even if only partially.

“People book Christmas dinner and mi tell them yes. So whatever mi have to do, mi doing it.”

Supporters overseas have contributed through small fundraisers, which he says help, but are not enough to pay workmen to fix the boats and the restaurant or even to start rebuilding the second restaurant.

From New Holland to Treasure Beach, operators are determined to reopen, but many fear that without urgent assistance, numerous small local businesses may remain closed, delivering a severe blow to the south coast economy.

President of the Small Business Association of Jamaica, Garnett Reid, says early indications suggest that hundreds of small businesses in St Elizabeth have been impacted by Hurricane Melissa.

“We’re still doing the data collection, but based on what we’re seeing – shops washed away, farmers wiped out; storekeepers, restaurants, the list goes on – numbers are running into the hundreds,” Reid said.

Reid, who indicated that he has toured Westmoreland and plans to visit St Elizabeth this weekend, said the full tally for the damage could run into the millions – “if not billions”.

In the meantime, Reid said many small operators are frustrated as they “have no idea where to turn”, and he is urging the Government to step in and offer some relief.

Many operators are hoping to resume in time for the usually bustling Christmas season. But according to Captain See, “Christmas will still be here, but it won’t be that bright. It’s going to be like one of those Afghanistan-type Christmases – quiet and ravaged.”

He added jokingly, referring to the new, accessible path to the beach created by the hurricane’s destruction in Black River: “Except that now you have a good sea view. You can walk through Courts Jamaica, go see the sea, and come back. You can walk through the bakery and come back.”

He surmised that many businesses will not be open, and if they plan to rebuild, they will have to reinforce the seawall.

“Plus some of the areas you can see where sea a undermind the area and a flow up like spring in the town, so in the future if they going to build back, they have to think about dumping or moving the town inward. Right now, me nuh waa be Andrew Holness. Him suppose to vex how him win the election,” he said, adding that it is not a joke, given the unbelievable scale of the devastation.

tanesha.munde@gleanerjm.com