SEVERAL Portland Cottage residents who say they were hard hit by Hurricane Beryl last July and received no assistance believe they will be neglected again when aid for Hurricane Melissa, which battered the island on Tuesday, is dispensed.

Speaking with the Jamaica Observer Wednesday, the residents, many of whom live in abject poverty, said while the Category 5 system had not been as devastating as Beryl, the misery of their already poor housing conditions is compounded.

“No help, no help, none a di storm dem weh blow. This a go meck the seventh storm and wi don’t get no help. Wi set down wi name, up to last year di man dem come dung and teck name. Dem tell mi mother say to put her photograph and TRN [Taxpayer Registration Number] through WhatsApp and mi leff from here so go Lionel Town go do it, and mi a tell yuh, bredrin, nothing,” Dennis Baju, a resident of Dry Hill in the area, complained.

Eighty-seven-year old Gloria Baju is a picture in contemplation. The lifelong Portland Cottage resident says she was forced to move her small business into the front room of her tiny one-bedroom dwelling last July after Hurricane Beryl destroyed the shop’s roof. She says Hurricane Melissa, which devastated sections of the island on Tuesday and damaged the roof of her home, has left her in misery. (Photos: Naphtali Junior)

His 87-year-old mother, Gloria, who explained that she had been forced to operate her shop from her one-bedroom dwelling after Beryl destroyed the roof of the quaint building where she had earned her livelihood, charged discrimination by political players.

“Is victimisation. When them come fi give food is down dah way deh it go. Them seh dem ova deh so a PNP [People’s National Party]. Now, me nuh PNP, mi a JLP [Jamaica Labour Party], but mi nuh vote this time because mi cyaan stand up fi long,” she told the Observer from her derelict dwelling.

The elderly woman said she has lived in Portland Cottage all her life and relied on her son to assist her to even relieve herself as she could no longer go to the outhouse several feet away from her dwelling.

“A two time now mi house top blow off, a mi sister help mi put on back mi roof, mi never get no cheque, mummy. Everybody get $20,000 cheque and sumpten,” Neville Gayle, who lives in the same yard, claimed. He said his one-bedroom dwelling that “tear up bad inna Beryl” could simply not withstand the Category 5 Melissa.

“Mi woulda like some zinc fi meck up back mi bathroom and di roof,” said Gayle while attempting to clean the muddied, decrepit structure.

Dry Hill, Portland Cottage, resident Neville Gayle hammers this piece of zinc over where his window once was as he tries to repair his house which was stripped by Hurricane Melissa on Tuesday.

Some 10 feet away, another male, who also lives in the gloomy multi-dwelling yard, shared that Melissa’s rain had drenched his entire space.

“Mi mattress wet up, mi woulda want a mattress,” he said while inviting the Observer to enter the darkened space.

“Dem [disaster relief personnel] nah go come yah now, dem specialise inna politics. Dem nah do nutten,” one young woman seen washing prophesied.

Similar sentiments were echoed by the neighbouring Wildman Town residents.

“When dem come dem go Board Villa and leff out Wildman Town. Wi woulda like fi know di reason why. When sharing of food dem nuh come fi wi side. A don’t get a house, from house a share till now a don’t get. All the time them a ask fi TRN and ID and when yuh give dem, dem nuh have nutten fi give yuh, so mi nuh like nobody teck my picture because yuh nah get no help,” one female who refused to give her name said in disgruntlement.

“A positive thing she a talk, dem nuh give no help to nobody round here. Them tun it inna politics and give dem friend and company, dem chosen ones dem. Dem give dem everything and nuh gi wi nutten round yah. A dat a di happenings inna Portland Cottage,” one man who rode past on his motorcycle chimed in.

One woman, who invited the Observer to visit her house, said she had fled the structure ahead of Melissa as she doubted it would have withstood the onslaught.

“Mi get a likkle kotch and a slab top, so a deh mi kotch misself and mi glad mi alive and mi family an mi grandpickney dem alive. It come in like wi nuh count dung a Wildman Town. But it nuh really matter mi, because a God a mi guiding star,” she said.

Her husband, who was seen carrying out repairs to the humble dwelling, added his two cents.

“From before Beryl storm dem nuh look pon wi, but wi still a give thanks fi life an a batter. From di breath a blow, wi give thanks, all tree drop pon it [house],” he said.

Wednesday, as the sun fought to peer through the glum skies, isolated sounds of hammering echoed from sections of the community, while in some areas groups of individuals gathered to converse.

“Up deh so a paradise, up deh so a gold, up a Shearer Heights,” one young woman sang out — in reference to a housing scheme developed on prime lands to relocate residents impacted by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 — as she sashayed past the news team.

“What bout di people dem pon di seaside who nuh get no land? Dem suppose to relocate to Shearer Heights and dem still nuh get no land and no house. Most people weh get di house a weh live pon hill, and who live on di sea nuh get it,” one man told the Observer.

In the neighbouring Rocky Point community had the same contrasting scenes — slovenly dwellings interspersed with well-appointed houses.

While several homes were more or less undisturbed, their gleaming roofs intact, on the interior of the community an entirely different scene unfolded. The dwellings, a mix of concrete, ply, and zinc, some perched dangerously near the sea for the most part, were surrounded by unsightly, stagnant brackish water, mounds of dirt and debris.

This resident of Wildman Town, Portland Cottage, says residents of her area have been neglected regarding relief efforts for several hurricanes now, despite being documented among those in need of assistance. The woman said she did not see the good in continuing to give out her particulars since doing so made no difference.