Black River on pause

BUSINESS owners in Black River, St Elizabeth, are urgently seeking financing, direct communication, and reassurance about the town’s future as the Government’s recovery plans seem sluggish eight months after Hurricane Melissa.

“There’s a lull in Black River,” said president of the Chamber of Commerce Kadian Myers Brown. “I wouldn’t say that there isn’t anything that’s going on, but what we would have expected, seven months now, going on eight months after the storm, there is nothing to really talk about in terms of this new resilience that we hear them [the Government] speaking about.

Speaking alongside members of the St Elizabeth Homecoming Foundation and key community stakeholders during yesterday’s Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange at the newspaper’s main offices in St Andrew, Myers Brown highlighted the struggles of numerous entrepreneurs in Black River, who lost their entire livelihoods after the devastation of the Category 5 hurricane, which struck on October 28, 2025.

While acknowledging that there was some work done since the storm’s passing, Myers Brown argued that enough has not been planned or implemented by the Government to resurrect the town’s business sector, leaving what was once an economic hub to become a place of struggle and vulnerability.

“There is nothing that is happening in this space. With respect to a few business owners, family-run business owners, who are able to pull back and re-energise their businesses, we’re talking maybe about less than 20 per cent, maybe about 15 per cent, and mostly what you have seen is just about four or three to four supermarkets. Mostly what we’re seeing are the vendors just scattered about, no real planning, no town planning as it relates to a structured market for them to vend, nothing like that.

“Everybody is just scattered about in the town. So from a governance standpoint, with respect to the municipal corporation, there is no strategic movement that we see going on there, and nothing vibrant happening for the economy of Black River,” said Myers Brown.

The Government has maintained that Black River will be rebuilt as a climate-resilient town rather than restored to its pre-hurricane state. Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, during his presentation in the 2026/27 Budget Debate in March, announced plans for a new inland urban centre housing key public services, alongside upgraded coastal defences, a redesigned waterfront, and tourism infrastructure aimed at creating a modern, flood-resilient commercial hub.

But on Monday it was revealed through a recent Black River Business Survey Report carried out by the St Elizabeth Homecoming Foundation, that employment and income has decreased by 87 per cent among those who employ fewer than 10 people.

The attorney-at-law further pointed out that a mere five per cent of the Chamber of Commerce’s members have managed to resume operations following the disaster.

She clarified to reporters and editors that this low figure partly stemmed from the fact that many local business owners in Black River do not belong to the chamber. However, Myers Brown emphasised that the statistics serve as a stark reflection of the severe devastation dealt to the town’s commercial sector.

“Now that we have had Hurricane Melissa, the business community is now seeing the importance of the Chamber of Commerce, and hence why they’re now calling on us too, and among other groups, like the Homecoming Foundation, to advocate for them, because really and truly, nothing is happening,” she said.

Myers Brown also argued that institutions like the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) could be doing more to assist small business owners, noting that she has made several calls on the people’s behalf to the institution which, she says, were heard but not acted on.

“Our banks, the DBJ, the commercial banks, so many other financial entities, have the power to come in and rescue Black River business owners, because not many of them [have insurance]. We find that insurance is also another major impeding factor.

“Not many persons were necessarily insured, and for those who were insured, we are now hearing that they are undervalued. So that is another serious situation that business owners are facing. So we want the financial institutions and the Government to come collaboratively and rescue the business community somewhat,” she charged.

The veteran businesswoman asserted that the local commercial sector can successfully recover if both the Government and financial institutions provide stronger, targeted support to small businesses.

“Naturally, it will create jobs. More persons will return to their jobs. And on that front as well, I believe it will give the local business operators and even our local diasporans will come back into the space and invest so that more persons can generate an income from Black River,” she said.

Myers Brown emphasised that Black River’s recovery hinges on immediate government action driven by transparent consultation, clear communication, genuine respect, and empathetic support.

“The business community needs communication from the powers that be. And, in terms of businesses, we need the financial assistance. Be it from central government or from the banks’ standpoint, we need, or the businesses need financial assistance. They need reassurance. We want reassurance to know, and that will come from the communication.

“We will know from that communication that if it is that we were to rebuild, we are not going to be told in a short-term or in a six-month or a one-year basis that we will have to either relocate or the building or the space will be taken over to facilitate this new development that is coming for this space. So, bottom line, give us the communication, give us the financial assistance, and give us reassurance,” shecharged.