FALMOUTH, Trelawny — While urging residents to remain patient as recovery efforts continue, mayor of Falmouth C Junior Gager says the Trelawny Municipal Corporation is moving closer to repairing buildings damaged by the wind and flooding related to Hurricane Melissa.

Gager, who is chairman of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation, indicated that insurance assessments on several corporation-owned properties are now progressing steadily, raising hope that restoration work can soon begin more than six months after the storm caused widespread destruction across the parish.

“The latest development in all the buildings is that the insurance company, they are working with us, and they have visited the sites,” Gager told the Jamaica Observer during an interview.

“They have now reached a point where they came out and they assessed all buildings. So we are getting there. Soon, we believe you will start seeing work on these buildings…In fact, just over [last] weekend, my superintendent was very busy touring with insurance company representatives and finding all the buildings of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation that are insured,” he added.

Among the hardest-hit properties was the historic Falmouth Courthouse, which housed the administrative headquarters of the municipal corporation.

The damage left the building unusable and displaced several operations, with the mayor’s parlour among those now functioning from a temporary container office at the Roads and Works Department compound.

Gager disclosed that more than 16 municipal properties across the parish sustained varying levels of damage and have since been assessed, including facilities in Falmouth, Wakefield, Ulster Spring, Duncans, and Burwood Beach.

One of the facilities damaged during the storm was the Albert George Market, which houses several vendors. Gager said tenants have been permitted to carry out minor repairs, with the costs to be deducted from their rent payments.

“That was agreed on, and I can see one or two persons started that,” he said.

He also noted that larger restoration works at the facility will be undertaken at a later stage.

Gager also pointed to long-standing issues with delinquent rental payments among some tenants occupying the market

“We have some owing quite an amount of rent there. I know there’s one there who is owing over $700,000, but we are doing what we can to recoup all of that,” Gager stated.

“If it means we might have to put it to a debt collector, or we give you a chance to come in and regulate, come on a monthly instalment [plan] that you can pay… Rent is due every month, but some people for reasons unknown just don’t want to pay,” he added.

Despite the challenges, Gager maintained that the corporation remains committed to rebuilding and improving its facilities.

“As a corporation, we are trying to work with that, and we are trying to make sure that we get things back in order, and we get the buildings up and running — and if even in a better condition than it was before Melissa,” he said.

Mayor of Falmouth, Councillor C Junior Gager, speaking with the Jamaica Observer about ongoing recovery efforts and planned repairs to hurricane-damaged municipal buildings in Trelawny. (Photo: Horace Hines)