SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — Three high schools, a primary school, and 50 residents are to benefit from Carib Cement’s donation on Thursday of 900 bags of cement to this south-central Jamaica parish which was hard-hit by Hurricane Melissa on October 28.

Chad Bryan, communication and social impact coordinator at Cemex Carib Cement, told the Jamaica Observer that St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), Lacovia High, Roger Clarke High, and Park Mountain Primary, are among the first beneficiaries of a planned drive by the company to help Jamaica build back stronger.

“A portion of the cement will go to the schools to help them. Obviously, they suffered damage during the passage of Hurricane Melissa,” Bryan said while pointing out that the municipal authority will handle the distribution of cement to the 50 residents.

“The Poor Relief Department of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation will then disseminate to people in the communities who suffered damage during the passing of Hurricane Melissa, so they can rebuild their lives,” Bryan said at STETHS during the presentation of initial shipment of relief cement.

He said the donation forms part of the company’s relief efforts as it previously distributed care packages in St Elizabeth communities.

“Beyond care packages we want to demonstrate tangible things, so we are helping with the rebuilding efforts in the parish. We are providing an opportunity for people to rebuild their lives and that is our primary aim behind this donation and intervention,” added Bryan.

Principal of STETHS Keith Wellington said with a population of just under 1,700 students the school has been trying to return to normal in the aftermath of the storm.

“We started last week with the grades 11, 12, and 13 coming in, but we started regular classes this week… Grades 11 to 13 will attend school every day. The grade 10 [students will attend] four days for each week, and the grades seven to nine, three days per week,” explained Wellington as he pointed out that the Category 5 storm ripped through some classrooms at STETHS.

“We are trying to get in at least 1,300 students each day. So far we have consistently had more than 1,000 of those 1,300 students attending… We are compiling a list of students who we have not seen at all to find out what is the number of students who have not [attended school] over the two weeks.

“In total we normally operate with 42 classrooms in addition to our workshops and labs. We lost 19 classrooms, because of the storm, so we essentially have 27 classrooms available. We still have our labs and workshops,” added Wellington.

He pointed out that the donation of the cement is timely for rebuilding.

“For the most part we will have to replace roofing, but with greater reinforcement. The structural engineer report I just received… I don’t wish to publicly disclose what it says yet, but there are areas where we are looking to change the type of roofing,” said the veteran educator.

He lauded Carib Cement for its donation to STETHS and the other institutions.

“I know everybody wants to build back stronger and if you are building back stronger you must use cement. When you walk through the campus you will realise our damage is because you never had cement, decked roofs. It is really a kind gesture, because I know everybody who has lost roofs wants to improve on what they had before,” said Wellington.

“[People] would like to be in a position to secure their possession so if something like this happens again they are not so dependent on help, because they won’t be affected so significantly… Students are using cement as part of their classwork to rebuild the school, so thank you very much and we look forward to continuing working with you,” added Wellington.

One of the 50 residents set to benefit from the cement donation, Julette Chambers, whose house was damaged in the community of Dittingent, near Middle Quarters, is grateful to Carib Cement as she rebuilds her house.

Chambers, who is also visually impaired, said her family of seven faced extensive roof damage.

“The support structure and the roof are completely gone, so we are building a concrete structure and we need the cement to finish in order to move in, so that when the hurricane season comes around we are okay,” said Chambers.

“My mother’s house was [also] destroyed. I have taken her in… It has been rough. We lost a lot of furniture, clothes, and appliances. We have done a lot of cleaning up… A lot of memories [are gone] like photos,” added Chambers.

People interested in assisting the visually impaired Chambers can contact her at 876-314-5655 or 876-519-3903.

Carib Cement Managing Director Jorge Martinez (right) in discussion with beneficiaries Evelyn Parry (centre), a resident of Fullerwood, and Julette Chambers, a resident of Dittingent near Middle Quarters, during a donation of cement to residents and schools in St Elizabeth on Thursday.

St Elizabeth Technical High School student Shackera Blair (left) uses a shovel to mix cement as part of her building technology class on Thursday. Looking on are Carib Cement Managing Director Jorge Martinez (second left) and Blair’s classmates.