DOUBLE WHAMMY

Yet to recover from a devastating fire a year and a half ago, some operators at the Forum Fishing Village in Portmore, St Catherine, faced fresh hell on Tuesday morning as a second inferno reduced their shops and a bar to ashes, leaving them with significant losses.

The double blow has led some vendors to question whether the latest fire, which reportedly began about 7 a.m., was deliberately set.

Kareta Lewis, whose shop was among 14 destroyed in the 2022 fire, told The Gleaner on Tuesday that she was still struggling to recover from that $2-million loss when she was dealt this latest blow.

Having rented and stocked a new shop in the fishing village to resume her business as she tried to bounce back, yesterday’s tragic events have piled on another $3 million in losses, she lamented.

“I don’t even recover from last year’s fire, and look what happened to me again,” she said, solemnly, as she surveyed the damage.

With sole responsibility for her son and two grandchildren, Lewis said that the repeated losses are weighing heavily on her.

And with empty promises made by the authorities in the wake of the fire last year, she is unsure as to whether any assistance will come her way.

“They only promise, and no help has come,” she added, her distress evident as she sipped a bottle of beer to soothe her sorrows.

IMMENSE LOSSES

Tanisha Scotland, who operated a cookshop and chemical business in the village, told The Gleaner that she also suffered immense losses.

“I have nothing to rock back on. Everything is lost,” she said, expressing concern for her three children’s education as she used her business to support them.

St Catherine South Eastern Member of Parliament Robert Miller said some plans were being reviewed for a potential upgrade of the facility and rebranding by Rainforest Seafoods. The plans include the construction of new shops and improving the sanitary facilities.

However, Miller noted that some issues, such as the relocation of residential fishermen, need to be addressed before those plans can proceed.

Portmore Deputy Mayor Alrick Campbell said that while the local authority has not been involved in the discussions about the potential upgrade and rebranding, it would not object to such an initiative.

He also noted that lands for relocating the residential fishermen have also been identified by the municipal corporation.

The deputy mayor emphasised the need for adequate spacing between shops to minimise losses in the event of another tragic fire.

Campbell said that the Ministry of Social Security had received paperwork from vendors to seek compensation for tools of trade lost in the last year’s fire and that a similar process would be engaged for the victims of the most recent fire.

ruddy.mathison@gleanerjm.com