FOLLOWING the US$2.2 billion in destruction in St Elizabeth by Hurricane Melissa, a coalition of development advocates has launched a nine-point proposal aimed at accelerating the recovery of the parish as a national model for resilience and sustainable development.

The proposal — which emerged from a strategic stakeholders’ planning retreat in Luana, St Elizabeth in April — has been dubbed the ‘Luana Declaration’ and outlines a comprehensive framework for rebuilding communities devastated by recent natural disasters, while calling for stronger public-private partnerships, increased investment and greater community participation in the parish’s redevelopment.

“St Elizabethans are known for their productivity, pride, and resilience. The combined impact of the Category 5 Hurricane Melissa [October 2025]… Hurricane Beryl [July 2024], and COVID-19 has been devastating.

“The clarion call is for information, consultation, relief, and development support. From Elderslie to Treasure Beach, Balaclava to Black River, Santa Cruz to Accompong, Middlesex to Ridge Pen, New Market to Luana, Gutters to the top of the Santa Cruz Mountains, more than 60 districts of St Elizabeth have been adversely affected,” the declaration states.

Prepared by the St Elizabeth Homecoming Foundation (SEHF), the document was developed in collaboration with the Black River Chamber of Commerce, the St Elizabeth Parish Development Committee, the Accompong Maroon Community, a consortium of justices of the peace, women’s groups and individual development practitioners.

According to the declaration, its focal objective is, “Rebuilding and developing St Elizabeth as a benchmark parish for prosperity, economic, social and environmental resilience powered by the purposeful engagement and inclusion of St Elizabethans and other sustainable development conscious stakeholders.”

The document was developed with input from Black River Business Survey Report, commissioned by the SEHF, highlighted that eight months after Hurricane Melissa, the economic sector was struggling to rebound in the parish capital.

According to the survey report — done Trevor Hamilton and Associates — the poverty rate in the parish is expected to rise by more than 15 per cent if there are no immediate economic interventions.

The report noted that the Melissa took a major toll on employees and their income especially among the smaller establishments, where salaries have decreased by 87 per cent for those employers with fewer than 10 workers.

It also highlighted that many small business owners were uninsured, with fewer than five per cent receiving benefits from an insurance scheme, with a majority of that total still awaiting settlement from insurers.

Against the background of the survey findings and in an effort to launch an informed recovery that meets the needs of St Elizabeth’s residents, the Luana Declaration outlines nine strategic pillars including, increased public-private partnership (PPP), through an expansion of technical and vocational education and training services.

Dr Trevor Hamilton (left), who conducted the recent Black River Business Survey, is joined by (from second left) Donna Parchment Brown, chair of the St Elizabeth Homecoming Foundation (SEHF) board; Doreen O’Connor, manager, SEHF; Kadian Myers Brown, president Black River Chamber of Commerce; and SEHF director Ambassador Byron Blake, former deputy secretary general of Caricom, following the latest Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

It also proposes human development and public safety through greater access to portable water services; more investment in inclusive educational material, and the creation of initiatives by the National Housing Trust (NHT) to support the harvesting of solar energy.

The proposal also details the need to repurpose existing community centres into multi-purpose facilities to support community-based organisations and chamber of commerce services.

A three-year programme which allows for property tax reduction and forgiveness of tax arrears was also pitched in the declaration. This would include an exemption from general consumption tax (GCT) for building materials; a 30 per cent mandatory participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Government contracts; land titling services; and grants for upgrading emergency centres.

It further recommends a payment of two-year hardship allowances to public health, and education staff assigned to the parish, as well as incentives given to SMEs to encourage redevelopment.

Additionally, the declaration proposes incentives for PPPs in municipal markets, affordable smart and environmentally resilient homes, farm road maintenance, with emphasis placed on the immediate restoration of courts, and other public sector services.

The Luana Declaration also calls on the Government to increase Human Employment And Resource Training (HEART/NSTA) Trust training grants by 50 per cent and to allocate 20 per cent of the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund and Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) portfolios for strategic parish projects.

The remaining clauses focus on the designation of Accompong as a special economic zone, the prioritisation of investments from the Diaspora, and the creation of a multidisciplinary execution team with specific mandates to refine and oversee a five-year development plan for St Elizabeth.

“The team should encompass expertise in engineering, tourism, fishing, agriculture, shelter, human development, institutional transformation, community mobilisation, policy mandates, PPP financing, models, community relations, development support communications, environmental management, and land law,” states the declaration.

Speaking during this week’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange at the newspaper’s head office in St Andrew, chair of SEHF Donna Parchment Brown urged the Government to move with alacrity, arguing that the resident’s resilience through hardship must not be interpreted as recovery but more so survival.

“Park Mountain [Primary and Infant School] is a miracle. Miss Beadle, becoming the top [primary] scholar for Jamaica, tells us something about the staff there, herself and her family. But let’s not be fooled by the success of some,” said Parchment Brown in reference to Jasonnia Beadle who beat adversity to attain the highest national score among primary students in this year’s Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations.

“There is a lot of need. Socio-economic support [is needed] and for this, I go beyond the three-year grant. I’m speaking about the small businesses, the microenterprises. I’m talking about the regular businesses. And on the social side, I’m talking about restoring homes and restoring livelihoods so that people can go forth. And in my opinion, all of these are crisis-level. All of them are urgent,” added Parchment Brown.

The Luana Declaration main points:

•Socio-economic empowerment

•Human development and public safety

•Community centre repurposing

•Strategic infrastructure rebuilding

•Three-year programme for hardship reduction, household and business recovery

•Government capital expenditure (CapEx)

•Accompong special economic zone

•Diaspora investment harmonisation

•Multidisciplinary execution team