BEING badly hit by Category Five Hurricane Melissa almost two weeks ago, Accompong Town in St Elizabeth may experience a lack of electricity and stable telephone connection well into 2026, some residents believe.

What is certain is that the residents expect to spend Christmas next month without power in their homes — or what is left of them — after the hurricane due to severe damage to Jamaica Public Service power lines and other infrastructure.

Significant damage was also done to telecommunications infrastructure throughout St Elizabeth during the hurricane, which now prevents many people from placing straight calls from one network to the next.

Luckily, with a push from Colonel Richard Currie a system to keep people connected with their relatives has been implemented using Starlink Internet devices. As Currie accumulates more of the devices, he said there are plans not only for Accompong Town to have Internet, but adjoining communities like Windsor and Siloah, which have Maroon families living there as well.

Last Wednesday, the Jamaica Observer toured the area with Currie and his team as they delivered hurricane relief packages to Maroons in and outside of Accompong.

Accompong is located in the hills of the Cockpit Country.

On the same vehicle from which Currie delivered the care packages was mounted a Starlink device. The device not only provided Internet for Currie and his team members as they moved about, but also for residents in districts outside of Accompong where he made deliveries.

During a drop-off in Windsor, Currie instructed members of his team to provide the code so residents could connect and make phone calls via the Internet.

“We are here in Windsor district, just adjoining Siloah, which is another district of the Accompong Maroons. Here we have connected our families, giving them the opportunity to make some phone calls to their loved ones. No one here has been in touch with their loved ones since the hurricane. Windsor is just outside of Appleton Estate. There was vast devastation, such that people are still not able to connect,“ he said.

“With the help of the Starlink system we have been able to go into communities and stop for half an hour to an hour to give persons the opportunity to make their calls and connect with their loved ones. That means the world to them because any help that can come is help that is much, much needed. We have issues with network connectivity in Accompong. We are acquiring more of the Starlink systems that we will be depositing in specific districts where persons can have access to their loved ones who may be in the wider Jamaica or overseas,” Currie told the Observer.

Currie shared that the Accompong Maroons started experimenting with Starlink after the passage of Hurricane Beryl last year.

“We found out it was a very useful equipment to have. We continue to solicit Starlink units and we even got a few smaller ones from Aerial Recovery, which we are mobilising as we do our drops,” Currie said.

The Observer team spent the night in the community on Wednesday and witnessed residents who left their homes to gather at a field adjoining the Accompong Primary and Infant School.

At the playfield the residents were able to do two things: They either sought to get close to the Internet source to ensure strong signal, or because they have no electricity at home, they were able to recharge their cellphones and other electronic devices.

The charging of the devices was made possible due to the presence of solar panels on the school grounds, which is the only source of electricity in the community, apart from a very small number of residents who have generators.

Resident Stephen Bradshaw described the Internet and charging system as the greatest thing happening for the Maroons of Accompong in these times of disaster.

“Chief Richard Currie made it possible for us. People from neighbouring communities can come in and charge their phones. They can hook up to the Starlink, so who is not charging their phones can socialise with their family who can’t hear from them because they can’t make a straight call.

“At about 10:00 pm it moves from here to a different location. People come three to four miles to come and hook up on the Starlink. We are making it happen because a lot of people went through trauma,” Bradshaw said, underscoring the importance of people being able to hear from their relatives locally and overseas.