AFTER two months of aid and restoration efforts and millions of dollars dispensed to help Jamaicans recover from Hurricane Beryl, some residents of the hard-hit Portland Cottage community in south Clarendon say the best of the supplies and cash ended up in the bosoms of “the greedy and not the needy”.

“Yuh see di greedy? A dem get it, not the needy,” said one resident, who told the Jamaica Observer that her unfortunate situation before the July 3 storm swiped sections of the island is even worse now.

“It hard! Right now mi not even have everything for my child for back to school. Mi neva have no money before the storm, and after di storm mi wosser,” she confided.

The woman, who was one of several parents completing registration activities for their children at Portland Cottage Primary School, said her dwelling had been damaged during the storm. When asked whether she had received assistance for repairs, she said, “No sah, wi nuh see no help yet.”

When asked how they had managed to miss the assistance rendered by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and their Member of Parliament Pearnel Charles Jr, one woman broke her silence to declare vehemently: “Him, Miss? Him? Pick waah nedda name. Mi see him over ya two time wid him two long hand; one time him come by himself and another time him come with di prime minster — and none a dem don’t come with not even a water. Dem [labour ministry officials] come and tek name, but a nuh everybody name dem tek up.”

“Yuh haffi a work wid dem side,” one parent alleged, adding, “Him come inna him vehicle. Betta mi choose God than the two a dem right now.”

“Everything inna my yard a drown. Yuh see all the road? every wata weh run off it is inna my yard it reach. Wi nuh get nutten. Dem drive round and mi hear seh list a go round fi name, and all now nobody nuh pop up to wi. Dem seh dem did a go write dung name but it look like a special people dem a look for ’cause mi nuh see none a dem,” the parent said.

Another parent said: “People with slab top [roof] a get money and dem nuh need it; a sufferation. If I ever get piece a land, a grab up di two pickney dem an leff right now. Dem nuh bear it in mind seh people nuh hav nowhere betta fi go.”

The group, in further pouring out their disappointment, said they also felt shafted with the food distribution efforts.

“When dem a gi out food yuh haffi stand up a look. Who need help don’t get none, and who get help, dem don’t need it — dem have it already and nutten nuh do dem. And like all me, who need it, mi don’t get nutten at all,” a female resident said.

She alleged that she received a bag with food on only one occasion and was told to share the contents.

“A two pound a rice in deh; two tin a mackerel; one toilet paper; three candle; one likkle, teeny bottle a oil; and a one-pound parcel a sugar,” she said.

According to the parent, her dignity was insulted by the distribution process.

“Him tek out bag gimme and den seh mi fi go stand up so dem can tek picture. An’ mi seh, ‘People inna disaster and oonuh waan tek picture?’ Mi seh, ‘Mi nuh badda want no food ’cause [this is] a disaster. Yuh fi come come help wi [but instead] yuh come a tek picture,’ ” she declared.

“Food come up yah suh but wi nuh get no food; one whole heap a wi and about hundred name. Yuh know how long wi deh yah and inna di evening wi leff…dat about the 20 something a July. Everywhere weh wi go, a name a call and a di same set a people dem. The people dem weh live inna wall house [concrete] a collect money and we live inna board house; a nuh fi needy people, a fi greedy people,” the parent said.

The Sunday Observer, during a drive through of the area which the team had visited on July 4 after Hurricane Beryl skirted the island, saw scenes of a community in recovery, with tarpaulins adorning sections of some roofs while others boasted gleaming sheets of new zinc atop.

Interestingly, a contingent of Jamaica Defence Force soldiers is temporarily based at the entrance to Portland Cottage, which stands across from the entrance to the Rocky Point community. When asked their purpose for setting up camp in the area, the
Sunday Observer was told that they provide escort and security services to individuals and entities conducting supply distribution in the Portland Cottage area.