‘You cannot bet against Melissa’, Desmond McKenzie warns
Ainsworth Morris / Our Today
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A frustrated Local Government Minister, Desmond McKenzie, is warning Jamaicans against complacency amid the approach of Hurricane Melissa, imploring citizens that “this is one bet you cannot win” against nature.
While speaking at a press conference hosted by the Government on Sunday (October 26) at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), McKenzie passionately said the critical communities known themselves, such as Rocky Point in Clarendon, Portland Cottage, Bamboo River in St. Thomas, New Haven, Riverton City and Taylor Lands.
“If anybody believes being stubborn helps, well, that is their funeral. This is one bet you cannot win. You cannot bet against Melissa. Don’t do it, because you can’t win… There is nothing more we can do as a Government, but to beg and beseech persons to heed the warning,” McKenzie said.
“And if it will help, I will go on my knees,” he said.
His appeal comes as residents of Port Royal defied evacuation recommendations after Kingston Mayor Andrew Swaby personally visited the vulnerable town with two Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC) buses that left with only one occupant.
McKenzie also warned that it is the collective response and partnership of all Jamaicans that will take us through the negative impact expected from Hurricane Melissa.
Hurricane Melissa, now upgraded to a powerful category five cyclone, is expected to make landfall between Monday evening into Tuesday morning.
As a “praying country”, McKenzie pleaded for more prayers as only “God knows where this journey will end”.
The Prime Minister Andrew Holness-led government later issued a mandatory evacuation order for seven flood-prone Jamaican communities.
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