MONTEGO BAY, St James — The Montego Bay Boys and Girls Club, known for impacting the lives of many children from this western city over the years, will soon be fully up and running again after Rotary Club of Grand Cayman fixes its hurricane-damaged roof.

Work is expected to begin before the end of May and finish by the end of June. EZ Management Group Limited is the contractor for the project, which is valued at just under $9 million.

“Hurricane Melissa tested the spirit of the Caribbean as few storms ever have. Our response, as Rotarians and as neighbours, is to stand alongside the people of Jamaica in the hard work of recovery,” said Vinton Chin, president of the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman.

“Through the extraordinary generosity of Cayman National Bank and the personal sacrifice of every member of its staff who gave from their own bonus to the cause, our club is honoured to deliver a project that will restore the roof, the safety, and the promise of the Montego Bay Boys and Girls Club. We are profoundly grateful to [the bank] and to its staff for placing their trust in Rotary to carry this work forward on behalf of the children of western Jamaica,” he added.

Immediate past president of Rotary Club of Grand Cayman and Rotary Club of Montego Bay, Nerissa Persaud, helped lead the contracting and oversight process from Cayman, where she now resides. In selecting the Boys and Girls Club as a worthy and credible project, she sought guidance from Mayor of Montego Bay Richard Vernon.

“After the hurricane there are a lot of different actors — sometimes you don’t know what’s true, you don’t know what’s real — so it’s so important to link with our community leaders to know exactly where that need was; and we got pointed in that direction,” she explained.

A team from Cayman visited Jamaica in March and, after a first-hand assessment of the building, determined that they wanted to help with the project.

“Once we learned about the legacy of that space – which is not just a space but an 84-year-old institution that created so much talent – it was a no brainer,” Persaud said.

Alan Roffey, a past president of the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman, is providing oversight for the project.

“Currently, the main clubhouse roof is our focus; the roof was quite badly damaged. Some of the timber joists were ripped out [as well as] a number of the corrugated iron sheets,” he explained.

“The structure is fine and so we are doing a like-for-like replacement, except we are adding a layer of insulation as well which should improve some noise reduction from the roof and also reject some heat,” Roffey added.

He said another team will visit Jamaica at the end of June to inspect the completed work.

“We are comfortable with the contractor and are working to ensure that he gets paid quickly. We are hoping that will cause him to move as fast as possible to get this job finished,” he said.

There is more good news on the horizon, as efforts are also being made to rehabilitate another building on the property that shares a connection with the Boys and Girls Club.

“The music hall is a second building which doesn’t have a roof either. Our focus is going to be on trying to raise some additional funds to complete that roof as well,” Roffey explained.

Named after Rotarian Ratamir “Papa” Pavlovic, who later moved to Cayman, the music hall has helped nurture some of St James’s greatest musical talents over the years.

According to Roffey, Pavlovic was a major donor and active member of the Boys and Girls Club many years ago.

“He was then a member of our Rotary Club, and those of us who’ve been around long enough would remember. His grandson, who is based in Ontario, reached out, and we got a whole group of people aligning that say to us that this is the right thing that we should be doing with the Cayman National donation,” Roffey explained.

The Montego Bay Boys and Girls Club has a well-earned reputation of empowering youth through sports, music, and academics, serving as a haven for inner-city children in St James. Mayor Vernon, in whose division the facility falls, has welcomed the Rotarians’ support.

“The roof was really needed so that we can start back evening classes and our youth programmes. Because of the damage to the roof, it has placed all of that on pause. The club is a good place for youth engagement, because if you don’t engage with them positively, they are going to find other places to get engaged, and some of those places are gangs,” he explained.

“On behalf of the people of Montego Bay, I welcome with deep gratitude this remarkable hurricane recovery investment by Cayman National Bank, its staff, and the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman,” added Vernon.

The main entrance to the Montego Bay Boys and Girls Club.

Efforts are now being made by the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman to earn money to replace the roof of the Ratamir “Papa” Pavlovic music hall on the grounds of the Montego Bay Boys and Girls Club. 

Rotary Club (RC) of Grand Cayman members during their visit to Jamaica earlier this year. From left are president-elect RC Grand Cayman, Dale Crowley; past president RC Grand Cayman, Alan Roffey; past assistant governor, Natasha Parchment; president RC Grand Cayman, Vinton Chin; immediate past president RC Montego Bay and current member of RC Grand Cayman, Nerissa J Persaud; past district governor, Rotary District 7020 and member of RC LIFE Haresh Ramchandani.