FALMOUTH, Trelawny — Almost a year after Hurricane Melissa swept across Trelawny, leaving a trail of destroyed property in its wake, nine local residents still remain trapped in emergency accommodation at the Bunkers Hill Community Centre — and Jamaican government agencies are in a urgent race against the clock to deliver permanent, safe housing for them before the Atlantic hurricane season peaks.
The urgent timeline and ongoing efforts were laid out by C Junior Gager, Mayor of Falmouth and chairman of the Trelawny Municipal Corporation (TMC), during the body’s regular monthly public sitting on Thursday.
Gager told attendees that all nine displaced people lost their homes to catastrophic damage when Melissa made landfall last October, leaving them with no alternative but to seek refuge in the community-run emergency shelter. “Their houses were badly damaged and they had nowhere else to go,” he explained to the corporation.
To move the project forward, two national government ministries — the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, and the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation — have partnered with local municipal authorities to develop a coordinated housing solution for the group. Under the current plan, the nine residents will move into eight newly constructed units, with two brothers who currently live together in the shelter set to share one home.
With the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season already underway, Gager confirmed that the TMC has already completed all required pre-construction groundwork to avoid costly delays once funding is secured. That work includes scouting, vetting, and securing appropriately zoned, safe plots of land that meet all building requirements for the new housing units.
“Our team from the local authority went through and checked to ensure that the land was available and everything was in place so that the houses could be built,” Gager said. Detailed cost estimates for the construction project have already been finalized and submitted to the Ministry of Local Government for review, and municipal leaders are now awaiting final approval of the budget allocation to break ground.
The project is currently in the public procurement phase, Gager confirmed, with relocation efforts progressing steadily even as formal funding approval is pending. “The estimate was done and we are now awaiting funding so that we can kick off the action of building their homes,” he added. Once funding is greenlit, the construction contract will be put out to competitive public tender to award the build to a qualified contractor.
Seeking to reassure both the displaced residents and the broader community that their plight remains a top government priority, Gager stressed that the nine people stuck in the emergency shelter have not been forgotten by authorities. “It is not that they are there and no attention is being placed. The attention is on track. The work is being carried out. The land has been identified and soon they will be able to have their own private homes,” he promised.