GOVERNMENT minister Floyd Green says the decision of how Black River and other vulnerable seaside towns devastated by Hurricane Melissa will be restored is to be made through expert analysis envisioning sustainability.

“What we’re definitely going to do is take a studied approach to Black River. I think the prime minister has clearly outlined that what we won’t do is a piecemeal sort of work… and the idea is that we look at the future of not just Black River, but some of our coastal communities like Falmouth as well,” Green the Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth South Western, told editors and reporters at the most recent Jamaica Observer Press Club on Tuesday.

Commenting on calls for a rebuild and rebrand focusing on the historic nature of the town, Green said the heritage is important.

“I’ve always felt that with the sort of heritage and the stories that accompany Black River, that Black River really should be a destination that people go to take in and immerse themselves in that culture. We know the stories — first place to have electricity — so I would love to see some restoration of some of those historical buildings in a manner that turns them into a sort of interactive space. But let’s do the studies. I think we all know some of the things cannot be restored where they were,” he explained.

Described as ground zero by Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness after Category 5 Melissa hit Jamaica on October 28, St Elizabeth’s parish capital was ravaged, leaving multiple government buildings, including the hospital, with significant damage. Historical sites were destroyed and homes, schools, and churches had their roofs ripped away and were flooded by storm surge.

Tonnes of debris crowded the seaside town in the days after Melissa, reducing movement to foot traffic in some areas while the road to the parish’s only hospital was impassable.

“In the short term, which is over the next three months, it’s extended cleaning and re-establishing on a temporary basis critical services, like the hospital; maybe look at some temporary offices for the municipal corporation, trying to get a tax office, a temporary structure,” Green explained.

“So in the short term [focus] will be to get back up those temporary [essentials], then do the comprehensive study to ensure that in any positioning you plan around the future of Black River,” he added.

It’s possible that government entities will be relocated, Green explained; however, work will only move forward through consultations to be undertaken by the recently announced National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NARA).

“In Black River, the courthouse has been destroyed, the municipal corporation has been destroyed, the tax office has been destroyed, the hospital… And we will have to determine in rebuilding, do you rebuild where it was, which I don’t think would be the direction, but where do you rebuild? That can’t be anecdotal. That has to be studied, data-driven. So the idea is to stand up now and have that research done, and then move in that direction,” he said.

Green pointed to Holness’s announcement of NARA as the tool that will guide the process.

“From the prime minister’s trajectory, he wants to get the reconstruction authority up by January, look at those studies as quickly as possible, and then start the rebuild.”

The immediate response to restore the town to a navigable state is well underway though, Green indicated.

“In the interim, we still have to do a couple of things, and the first phase was just trying to clean the roads so that businesses could re-emerge where possible, and thankfully, we’ve seen some of that,” Green explained.

“So our St Bess Pharmacy, our Cawley’s Pharmacy, In-town Super Save, our KFC — those things have come back on track and that’s very, very important, because at the end of the day we’re talking about employment and people, I think, sometimes miss that. When a town like Black River is not operational, you have thousands of people who are out of work.”

Previously, emergency operations had seen the debris moved to Independence Park in order to clear roads and other areas.

The second phase of the clean-up operation will be handled by the Urban Development Corporation and will feature extended cleaning to move debris out of the town and properly dispose of it.

In addition, a field hospital set up by Samaritans Purse has been moved to the site of Black River Hospital, and the main ward is to be restored by January, increasing treatment capacity and bed space to between 60 and 80 beds.

“Ultimately, Black River will emerge better after all of this, no question,” Green said.

Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth South Western Floyd Green explains the Government’s thinking in regard to the rebuilding of Black River and other vulnerable seaside towns devastated by Hurricane Melissa during the Jamaica Observer Press Club on Tuesday. (Photo: Karl Mclarty)