Parottee resident still searching for $500,000 ‘pardna draw’ six weeks after Melissa
As Hurricane Melissa moved towards Jamaica late October, a female resident of Parottee — a small seaside community close to Black River — was on a high having just collected $500,000 which she had saved through the traditional system known as a ‘pardna’.
Of that amount, $200,000 was to buy fish for a business she operated while the rest was earmarked for personal expenses.
Then came Melissa, with its ferocious winds, heavy rain and storm surges. When the storm passed the devastation it left in Parottee, and many other communities in the south-western end of the island, was heartbreaking.
The woman, whose name is being withheld, saw the concrete structure, which she called home, crumble under the onslaught of Melissa. She sought refuge in a shelter and is now staying at her sister’s house which defied the Category 5 storm but she returns to what’s left of her house on an almost daily basis to dig through the rubble in a desperate attempt to find some of her pardna draw.
One relative told the Jamaica Observer that they have so far found only approximately $60,000.
“The hunt is on every day to find the rest of the $500,000. I understand that people find money down here. Every day we still search. As you can see everything is flat. It was a concrete house, four bedrooms, two bathrooms, verandah, and kitchen, all mashed down,” said the relative whose name is also being withheld as the woman walked around in the rubble with searching eyes.
Another relative told the Observer that the woman and her husband were staying at a shelter during the hurricane when he received news that his house was flat and had to be rushed to hospital.
It was later confirmed that he had suffered a stroke.
“I couldn’t walk at all, I had to call my wife and she took time to ease me into bed. Today is the first time I am seeing the destruction for myself because I spent about two weeks in Mandeville [Regional] Hospital. It was from the shelter to the hospital and from there, to my sister-in-law’s house. I am not searching for any valuables. I just came to look at what happened. I will be 67 on December 25,” the husband said.
