HUNGER in Hanover!

Marooned residents in Forest, Chigwell on brink of starvation

BY MARK CUMMINGS Observer West senior reporter cummingsm@jamaicaobserver.com

Thursday, October 14, 2010

FOREST, Hanover — AN urgent appeal is being made for food by the more than 650 residents of the flood-ravaged communities of Forest, Pierce’s Village and Chigwell in sections of Eastern Hanover.

“We are very low on food. If we don’t get some soon, some of us might die of hunger,” Colin Ricketts, a resident of Forest told the Observer West yesterday.

The residents’ movement in and out of the affected communities has been severely curtailed, due to the rising waters in the area in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Nicole, which lingered over the island two weeks ago.

The water in sections of the communities, Ricketts said, is as much as 60 feet deep and has covered most of the farmers’ crops.

Councillor for the area Wynter McIntosh agreed that the scarcity of food is one of the biggest challenges facing the residents.

“We are trying as best as possible to see what we can do in terms of providing some food, but it is a major problem,” McIntosh told the Observer West on Monday during a tour of the affected communities.

He was accompanied by chairman of the Hanover Parish Council Lloyd Hill and disaster co-ordinator for the parish, Olga Faye Headley.

McIntosh explained that the passage of the storm has resulted in the destruction of crops, livestock and poultry in the communities, aptly described as “farming areas”.

Nevertheless, McIntosh said, he believes that the supply of food to the three communities could improve soon, as charitable organisations such as the Jamaica Red Cross and the Salvation Army have agreed to assist.

Over the last two weeks, Headley added, her department has twice gone to the affected communities to distribute food and other relief supplies such as bed linens, mattresses and lanterns.

She argued, however, that relief supplies “are always never adequate”.

But apart from the current food crisis, the residents are also faced with a raft of other problems, which if not addressed soon, could mushroom into disasters.

Among them is the issue of mosquito infestation in the communities; the absence of electricity in Forest and the inability of some students to attend school.

Some residents have also expressed concern that they are unable to go to work, while others added that the three boats assigned to the communities to transport them are inadequate.

Headley argued that it could take a long time before normalcy returns to the affected communities.

“I think that it will take about four months before the water will recede,” she told the Observer West.

Area residents agreed.

“This (water) not going to draw down now. In 2004 duning the Hurricane Ivan it did not reach this high and it tek about four months to come down,” said Donnovan Chisholm, a resident of Forest.

Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for the area Dr DK Duncan, who visited the affected areas on the weekend, is urging the authorities to provide the necessary resources to assist the residents.