THE Jamaica Premier League (JPL) is set to resume on Sunday, and what was a difficult task for the promoted Treasure Beach FC team became even more difficult after the passage of Hurricane Melissa just over a month ago.

The monster storm took aim at the south-east of the country, devastating vast areas of St Elizabeth and Westmoreland, among other parishes in the county of Cornwall, with Treasure Beach caught flush and now in need of help if they are to survive.

Treasure Beach and Montego Bay United (MBU), from St James, are the JPL’s two western teams. MBU’s home field, the Montego Bay Sports Complex, and a house where the players resided during the season were both affected.

“It’s pretty bad, — especially our executive body, sponsors, players, our dormitory — all of those things would have gotten damage, you know,” Treasure Beach FC Head Coach Kemar Ricketts said.

However, unlike MBU who will have to play home games at Jarrett Park for now, Treasure Beach will still have the St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) Sports Complex in Santa Cruz to call home.

“Everybody would have seen the videos and photos of STETHS during and after the hurricane but the pitch is okay, so we’ll be okay to resume our home games once we are ready to play again,” Ricketts said.

He says picking up the pieces has not been easy.

“We have been slowly moving because, again, a lot of our sponsors got damaged during the hurricane, so that put a halt on funding for us,” he said. “So, we are still searching outside to see how we can get financing to continue on our journey.”

The biggest issue, he told the Jamaica Observer, is feeding the squad.

“It costs a lot of money on a monthly basis to fund the team because, again, the team has to stay down here because of the remote location of Treasure Beach and the players are from all over Jamaica, so we have to have to house them here.”

Ricketts says no one was spared the wrath of the hurricane.

“The full team, the full staff, executive members, players, coaching staff, everybody got a hit from the hurricane,” he said. “Basically, we’re still picking up the pieces, still trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel in so many different areas [of] the club on a whole. We have to get the club up and running and get it to stabilise the funding.”

Ricketts says newly appointed chairman, Floyd Green, also the Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth South Western, is doing his best.

“We’re seeing some light at the end of the tunnel but, again, we still need other lights to shine our way, especially with the big food companies,” Ricketts said. “We would love if they could come on board and help us — that would go [a] far, far [way] for us.”

Treasure Beach are 10th in the tables on nine points, the same as Mount Pleasant and Arnett Gardens. They will host Chapelton Maroons on Sunday.

RICKETTS…we’re still picking up the pieces, still trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel (Photo: Naphtali Junior)