Dear Editor,

It is generally accepted by now that Black River was ground zero for Hurricane Melissa, and Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has been adamant that Black River “will be rebuilt, but we must confront the realities of today”. I’m sure we all agree.

He has also said he has “directed the UDC [Urban Development Corporation] to explore options for developing a new, safer town, more inland”.

To this point I am not aware that the UDC has consulted Black River business owners who lost their businesses to Melissa. We certainly look forward to those consultations. It is a fact, though, that there are still seaport towns all over this island. So I want to caution the prime minister and the UDC that any town built outside of the greater Black River area will not be Black River and will not serve the purposes this town has for a very long time.

I want to raise this concern before the Government gets, literally, too far down the road. I want to bring to the attention of the prime minister and UDC that there are lands inside Black River that house what the prime minister would call ‘resilient buildings’ that are ready and available to be built out immediately.

The UDC does not need to look outside of Black River for land. They should call the folks at KFC. KFC sits alone on a massive parcel of land on High Street, within the greater Black River area. The KFC building suffered zero damage (resilient building) during Melissa. Maybe the Government should start there by building like KFC and building in the same neighbourhood as KFC.

I have no doubt that the good folks at KFC would be willing to share information about that site and their builders. There are also huge parcels of land along Central Road, away from the sea, that could be utilised. As a matter of fact, the Government’s own relief operation and that of all charities and some private institutions, like Hardware & Lumber and Sagicor, were set up on Central Road where there was no damage to a recently built office and car mart. The owners of that parcel of land and the builders of that office should also certainly be contacted.

By utilising the two areas just mentioned the Government could, in a very short time, reshape the town and have its offices up and running along with private businesses on the two main thoroughfares of Black River (High street and Central Road) without taking the usually accessible services further than the people are already used to. The Government should resist, at all cost, moving the town beyond the area now generally accepted as Black River. If they do, it will seal the fate of one of Jamaica’s most historic towns and unleash additional hardships on the people of Black River and its surrounding neighbourhoods.

It should be noted that the areas being suggested here are within walking distance of Black River hospital, which the Government is currently renovating at its old location; Black River High School, Black River Primary School, and the police station.

I urge the Government to give serious consideration to these facts, lest we end up with the unintended consequence of new buildings — not a new town — far away from the people of Black River.

Shakey Williams

shakeywilliams2022@gmail.com