Chinese community secures $100m in hurricane relief support for western Jamaica

Western Bureau:

The Chinese community in western Jamaica has secured more than $100 million in aid support to help families left homeless by Hurricane Melissa, dispatching busloads of care packages and planning to provide temporary housing across St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, and St James.

Led by Yangsen Li, chief executive officer of LCH Developments, the humanitarian team has spent the past four days travelling to remote districts, delivering food, water, and relief items to hundreds of displaced residents.

“So far, we’ve distributed about $8 million to $10 million worth of goods,” Li told The Gleaner during a stop in Black River on Wednesday. “But we’ve already secured more than $100 million in total support, including about $50 million in cash raised from donors here and overseas, to continue helping people rebuild their lives.”

Li said the group began its outreach in Westmoreland before moving into Salt Spring, St James, and St Elizabeth, where many homes were flattened by the Category 5 storm.

“We saw entire houses torn down, just the foundations left,” he said. “People have nowhere to cook or sleep, so we are sourcing tarpaulins and container houses to provide shelter while we plan for longer-term rebuilding.”

He added that more donations were being organised by Chinese business owners and supporters from the diaspora.

“This is our home, too,” Li said. “We want to help our brothers and sisters build back stronger and more beautifully.”

Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth South Western and Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Floyd Green has hailed the group’s intervention, calling it “a lifeline for families stranded in remote districts”.

“Relief comes in phases,” Green said. “The first is access and immediate aid, and we’re grateful to our Chinese partners who’ve helped us reach communities that were cut off by floodwaters. About 1,000 families will benefit from this support.”

He added that the south coast has been “decimated”, with sections of Parottee, Treasure Beach, and Whitehouse among the hardest hit.

“Ninety to 95 per cent of the homes have lost their roofs, and, in some areas, it’s 100 per cent,” he said. “People are desperate for shelter, and the rain keeps making it worse.”

Green said the immediate needs include tarpaulins, solar lights, and generators as the parishes face a prolonged power outage.

“Some power stations were destroyed, so electricity restoration will take months,” he explained. “Anything that helps people regain stability is critical right now.”

For Mark Orville Kerr, a builder who has lived in Whitehouse, Westmoreland, for 25 years and who was one of the hundreds of people helped by the Chinese, the storm was unlike anything he had ever experienced.

“It’s the mercy of God that kept us alive. Right now, we’re suffering. No water, no food, no medication. Everything wreck apart.”

He said the Chinese team’s visit brought hope to his battered community.

“It means a lot that they come here to help. Things are bad, but it shows we’re not forgotten,” he said.

In Parottee, St Elizabeth, 49-year-old Mary Linton recalled escaping her flooded home with her mother and niece as water from both the pond and the sea engulfed their community.

“I’ve been through Gilbert and other hurricanes, but this one is the most terrible,” she said. “We had to swim out of the house. My sister got a shock in the water. It’s only God kept us alive.”

Linton said she lost everything inside her home, and her neighbours lost their roofs or entire houses.

“If it was night, we would have died,” she said. “The water came from both sides – we were sandwiched. We had nothing to eat, just one pot on a fire where everybody shared one dumpling each to survive.”

She described the Chinese donation as a blessing.

“When you get food and have children, you have to be grateful,” she said. “It’s not just me – everybody in St Elizabeth suffer. So when they bring help, we give thanks.”

Li said his group wouldl continue its relief work through the coming weeks as additional supplies arrive from overseas.

“We’ve shown what can happen when people come together,” he said. “This isn’t just about charity, it’s about rebuilding our shared home, together.”

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com