WHAT was meant to be a joyful homecoming has turned into a distressing ordeal for a Jamaican couple who say they have spent months in limbo unable to retrieve a shipping container packed with sentimental items and essentials for their living here.

The couple, who said they left Jamaica two decades ago to build a life in Canada, reached out to the Jamaica Observer but requested anonymity as they shared their story.

According to the wife, after the death of her husband’s mother, they made the decision to close that chapter and retire in Jamaica. They carefully packed their belongings, cherished mementoes and household items, then shipped them to the island, determined to care for her own mother, who lives here, and settle into retired life.

Instead, the couple said they have been thrust into a nightmare. Their claim is that the container was shipped in late September and, more than two months after the shipment reportedly arrived in Jamaica, they stated that they have no idea where it is or whether they will ever receive the shipment.

The couple said the broker who handled the shipment initially stated that the delay was due to a backlog at the ports caused by the large volume of relief items arriving after Hurricane Melissa hit the island last October and the annual Christmas rush. However, they said the broker has reportedly stopped responding to calls, and they are now left in the dark.

“The container arrived in Jamaica on December 16. We reached out to a broker approximately around the first week of December and gave him all the details of our goods and documents that pertained to returning residents. He told us not to worry, he was on it, and there should be no issues once the container has landed. We waited, then waited, then waited some more. We contacted the broker to let him know the container has arrived. He said it should be a week to a week and a half, and then we will be able to strip the container,” the husband told the Sunday Observer.

“We waited all through January, then tried to call the broker, then his assistant, then some Customs guy that didn’t have a clue either. Finally, we got sick of the craziness and took a taxi to Kingston to try to meet this guy face to face. We reached out to his assistant, and she gave us an address. We went to the address given, and there was no such business at this address. We called back the assistant, and she gave us another address. We also went there, and there was no such business at this address. We called the assistant again, and she said the broker had given her the wrong addresses, then gave us a third address, and it was wrong also,” the husband added.

The couple said they eventually sought legal assistance, after which the broker made contact, attributing the delay to the impact of Hurricane Melissa and a backlog at the port.

The couple said they were also told that the items in the container had to be logged individually in different categories and the volume of items in the container had extended the clearance time.

They said that since that exchange all attempts to reach the broker have again proven futile.

Now they are living in limbo, unsure whether they have fallen victim to a scam or if legitimate shipping delays are truly behind the prolonged absence of their container.

Last month, commanding officer of the Newport West Police Formation, Superintendent Rochelle McGibbon Scott, urged the public, both here and abroad, to exercise great caution as a trend of people impersonating Customs brokers is emerging.

She said there has been an increase in reports of individuals posing as legitimate Customs brokers, particularly in virtual and remote spaces. As such, she encouraged people to ask a trusted family member or friend in Jamaica to physically verify the existence of a business or visit the nearest police station for assistance before engaging in any financial transactions.

The experience has left the couple distraught.

“It’s all of our stuff. We are coming from one house to another house, so everything that is in our container are things that we need — our beds, our clothes, our stove, all of these things, my mom’s wheelchair and her walker, all of the things that we absolutely need at this time. But we are not able to get our stuff because we keep hearing about the backlog at the ports, which we totally understand, but there still has to be something put in place, because this is now going on two months,” said the wife.

“We’re chasing the broker with no answers; he won’t return phone calls, won’t pick up the phone, so we don’t know what kind of craziness is actually going on,” she added.

Jamaica’s ports and cargo warehouses remain under heavy strain weeks after the traditional holiday rush as uncollected goods continue to clog storage facilities and slow operations.

In a press release last month, the Shipping Association of Jamaica, along with other industry stakeholders, called on importers and cargo owners to urgently clear goods that have already been stripped from containers.

Jamaicans with cargo ready for collection were urged to contact their shipping agents, brokers, or the relevant warehouse authorities as soon as possible to arrange clearance.

The problem has sparked criticism from Opposition spokesperson on trade, investment and global logistics Anthony Hylton, who demanded that the Government take immediate steps to clear up the crisis.

He cited growing complaints by small businesses, individuals, and relief organisations that have been hit with extraordinary delays in clearing containers from the port, increased costs for demurrage, and related charges.

“The annual Christmas congestion at the port of Kingston is a known and recurring weakness that the Government has failed to fix. This situation was exacerbated by the surge of relief imports in the post-Hurricane Melissa period as a result of the relief appeal by the Government and the duty-free concessions announced. But no corresponding operational capacity or announced crisis protocols were implemented,” Hylton said in a press release.

He added: “The result is a man-made logistics crisis, undermining disaster response and imposing additional costs on small enterprises and individuals, including returning residents. Despite clear warning signs from previous years, there is no public indication that the Government implemented the systemic reforms needed to build resilience before Hurricane Melissa.”

Hylton argued that individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises are being saddled with demurrage and storage fees running into hundreds of thousands of dollars for containers and packages they are unable to clear due to systemic delays beyond their control. He said the situation effectively amounts to a penalty imposed on citizens and businesses for inefficiencies within the public sector and among port operators.

Meanwhile, the couple, who shared that they have tried tirelessly to get answers and collect their shipment, with no response, are now fearful that their items may be at risk of being sold.

Under the Customs Act and related regulations, containers and their contents can be sold at public auction if not collected or entered within a specified time limit — usually three months.

That policy, though, would be deemed unfair by the couple.

“If we don’t know what’s going on, how are we supposed to [comply with the law]?” the husband asked.

“If we’re not being told to go to the wharf to pick up our stuff, we can’t go. We don’t even know if our container is sitting there; we don’t know what they did with it,” he said.

“We have things that we are connected to, we have things that have memories, we have certain things from my mom, and she passed away, so we just figured that we would take them with us, but had we known this craziness would take place, I would’ve sold everything, as sad as that is, because you should be able to keep your heirlooms and things like that…it’s been really rough,” he told the Sunday Observer.

“The roughest part is the lack of communication and the chasing. You’re always chasing, even when we went to the dock to find out what was going on, we did that on our own. We weren’t invited, but we wanted to find out where this guy is and what’s going on, and even going to the dock, we have guys coming up to the taxi saying, ‘Oh, if you buy me a beer, I’ll show you where your container is,’ that’s craziness,” the husband said, fuming.

Today, the couple said they are forced to adjust to their new life in Jamaica with limited resources.

“We bought a home right after Hurricane Melissa passed, and we’ve been camping out ever since. We have a lawn chair that we sit in, and that’s kind of where we are at. We…had to buy a bed and the mattress that we sleep on. We also had to buy a stove, and that’s where we are stopping it because why are we paying extra for the same things that we already have coming here. It makes no sense,” said the wife who was unable to hide her frustration.

She stated that while she has no regrets about their decision to return home, she hopes that the process can be made easier for returning residents.

“I think we are not doing enough for returning residents, and I’m just being honest. I am not saying that we should have priority, don’t get me wrong, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that we should make it a little bit more transitional. It’s like night and day in a sense, because things work a little bit slower here to wherever you’re coming from, so it’s a transition. Help the transition be a little more easier,” she pleaded.