Parottee residents resist St Elizabeth relocation plan after Hurricane Melissa

Some residents of Parottee in St Elizabeth say they are not prepared to move from the seaside community, even after Prime Minister Andrew Holness signalled that the area would be included in a post-Hurricane Melissa relocation programme.

Holness made the announcement last Thursday at the National Housing Trust handover of 27 serviced lots in Melbourne, St Elizabeth. He said Parottee, which he toured after the storm, was badly damaged and that rebuilding there could cost more than the houses being protected. The Prime Minister said the relocation would be done in a way that preserves residents’ livelihoods, asset values and dignity, and that the process would involve them at every stage. He named the NHT, the Urban Development Corporation and the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation as partners in the work.

But three fishermen and tour guides, Ridge Harvey of Captain Ridge Boat Tours, Anthony Sinclair and Wesley Bent, rejected the proposal. Harvey said many families in Parottee depend on fishing, boat tours and trips to nearby attractions such as Pelican Bar. “We do not want no relocation and we do not want to live in a hot container house,” he said. He also argued that residents were already rebuilding and complained that the Government had not held proper consultations with the wider community.

Bent, who said he has fished since 1975, reported losing his boat and house in the hurricane. He said moving inland, including to Fullerswood, would cut him off from his only source of income. Sinclair also said he intended to repair his damaged home and remain in Parottee.

In Clarendon, police are investigating the killing of 51-year-old Rohan Williamson, a specialist mathematics teacher assigned to Prospect Primary School. Investigators said residents in Prospect heard explosions about 5 a.m. Tuesday and later found Williamson with multiple gunshot wounds at his house. He was pronounced dead at hospital.

Meanwhile, Justice Dale Palmer criticised the absence of most defence attorneys in the Clansman gang trial on Tuesday, saying the delays were wasting court time. The matter, involving 25 defendants and 29 defence lawyers, is to resume in the Home Circuit Division of the Supreme Court in downtown Kingston.