Hurricane Beryl was particularly punitive to the parish of St Elizabeth, destroying many homes, crops and incapacitating infrastructure.

Jason Henzell, who heads the BREDS Foundation and is also the lead principal of Jakes Hotel in Treasure Beach, is soliciting help from both the private and public sectors to help rehabilitate the parish and ensure that its residents have electricity and water.

Today (July 9) he attended the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) among Food for the Poor (Jamaica), Food for the Poor (Canada), American Friends of Jamaica, United Way of Jamaica, and NCB Foundation regarding the administration of funds to support post-Hurricane Beryl relief efforts across Jamaica.

The MOU signing took place at NCB’s Atrium headquarters on Trafalgar Road in New Kingston.

Henzell is working closely with the founder and president of Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) Michael Capponi to repair the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Beryl. 

Speaking with Our Today, Capponi said; “In support of the Government’s effort, I am thankful and delighted with the partnership between the National Healthcare Enhancement Foundation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Consulate General of Jamaica Miami, the BREDS Foundation in Treasure Beach and our generous overseas donor partner Global Empowerment Mission for the chartered airlift of relief supplies with retail value of US$150,000 or J$23.4 million. This consisted of care packages, tarps, generators and solar lamps to serve the communities of St Elizabeth, Manchester and Clarendon. We also have a 350 generator to bring water back.  We’re going to create a campaign to rebuild Munro College.”

“The collaboration resulted in a response that in 72 hours, saw the unfolding of a filled chartered airlift that landed in Jamaica on Saturday, July 5, cleared customs and had its contents delivered to the BREDS Foundation warehouse in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth for the start of distribution to communities on Sunday, July 7. The relief distribution to the hardest hit Treasure Beach area and surrounding environs was the first benefit provided to communities.”

Our Today sought an assessment of the situation both in Treasure Beach and in the wider St Elizabeth parish from Jason Henzell.

“Beryl was definitely worse than [Hurricane] Ivan. There was plenty of wind damage whereas Ivan was mostly coastal and sea surge. Beryl took off a lot more roofs. We are looking at about 10,000 people affected in South St Elizabeth and I would say that most of it is roof damage. And of course, you have a lot of trees and crops that were affected.  We don’t at this time have a grasp on the loss suffered by the fisher folk but the farmers experienced extensive damage. We are also very concerned about the damage caused to schools. Many of these students were already affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and it is heart-breaking to think that many pupils and teachers may not be able to return to school by September.

“We have to keep a level head, we have to prioritise. We all have to know that water is important, the safety and education of our children is paramount that’s why it was good to see UNICEF here today, said the head of the BREDS Foundation

Henzell is now on the lookout for necessary materials from suppliers. Tarpaulin and food is a short-term solution, what we are looking for is Tank-Weld and Hardware & Lumber to give discounts on zinc and plywood so people can repair their homes and businesses.

He threw out an idea to see whether the Government can create a fund that helps people able to go out and restore their homes. This he sees as a scalable idea. 

“The truth of the matter is people are out of work but people want to get involved and if you put that money into the districts, it will spin around and fuel the local economy. I don’t think that people will be price-gouging. I know for a fact that  Tank-Weld has already given a significant discount for the parishes and areas that were hit the hardest. The truth is, we have to be very strategic, very focused and disciplined. An idea like this can have massive impact if it is managed properly. We could pay a labourer about $5000 and a skilled person, $10,000 a day. We could hire people from the communities to help and then we can repair a few houses per day. If we can get that accomplished over the next few months then we can put in place significant change,” explained Henzell.

It really is a case of both the private and public sectors coming together to get this done. How does Jason Henzell see this?

“Politicians get a bad rap. A crisis is something you run away from or towards. Daryl Vaz has a temperament made for crisis management. He has been incredible in mobilising JPS.  Matthew Samuda is not going to beat around the bush. He is going to say, ‘Look, I love you, I trust you but I can’t prioritise Treasure Beach because the prime minister will cut off my head, so you have to go and raise the money for those generators’. “I rather someone tell me straight than beat around the bush. We were able to work with Matthew Samuda and secured a commercial generator for US$35,000 which went to Newell. We secured a temporary generator for the  Luana Station that will supply water to Black River and the hospital.

“We want to have a discussion with the Ministry of Education about the schools. The truth is Jamaica is a small place and you tend to know the ministers. We are very fortunate to have Floyd Green as the Minister of Agriculture. He has been on the ground and I have seen him in the trenches. We have crossed paths every single day since Beryl hit us on Thursday. The private and public sector partnership is critical. You may have some naysayers but you can’t get distracted, you have to get it done. All communities are being helpful and we must build on the trust that has been established,” said Jason Henzell.