First steps to relief
Black River residents grateful as critical supplies arrive in St Elizabeth
Published:Saturday | November 1, 2025 | 12:09 AMLivern Barrett/Senior Staff Reporter
Three separate vehicles carrying food, water and other basic supplies drew long lines of residents desperate to get anything as night fell over the hurricane-ravaged town of Black River, St Elizabeth, on Friday.
The town remains without electricity, water and Internet connectivity, three days after the category 5 Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica.
One of the trucks was provided by Jamaican international recording artiste Shaggy, real name Orville Burrell. The others were an army vehicle and one provided by a popular fast food chain.
“Thank you very much,” Cynthia White, 53, whispered to a soldier after she secured a care package of basic food items.
White, who resides in the nearby community of Short Hill, said she learnt about the delivery of relief supplies from yesterday.
“I came down here today and never got anything like foodstuff and so forth. So I am very grateful for it and that’s why I was telling the soldier thanks,” she explained.
Amid the urgent need for basic supplies, looters have targeted several businesses in and around Black River that have been ravaged by the hurricane.
Three people allegedly caught looting were arrested by the Black River Police on Thursday, commanding officer for the St Elizabeth Police Superintendent Coleridge Minto disclosed.
Economic Supermarket and Wholesale was among nearly a dozen businesses that were looted, one Chinese businessman told The Gleaner.
However, Minto insisted that the police will enforce the law “to the fullest extent”, noting that additional police and military personnel have been deployed to the parish to provide support.
“We want to appeal to persons to allow order to prevail. It is a disaster, we have experienced it, we are in the rebuilding phase and what we don’t want is for citizens to be tearing down the few buildings and properties that now exist,” he said.
MORE THAN 20 DEATHS
The senior police officer confirmed, too, that the body of a man was found in a community near Black River on Thursday, pushing to seven the number of persons killed in the parish by the hurricane. More than 20 have so far been confirmed dead across the island.
He disclosed that there are several areas “where persons are marooned”.
Minto listed Forest Mountain as one of several communities that the police are “unable to communicate with”.
“We are working to ensure that access is created, certainly in the major corridors and then looking at the off-roads to ensure that we can get supplies that are really needed to get to these people,” he said.
The courthouse, police station, and the Black River Hospital are among the critical government infrastructure that were decimated by the hurricane.
Robert Morgan, minister with responsibility for works, said the immediate priority for the Government is to create access to Black River and neighbouring Westmoreland so critical relief supplies can come in.
He noted that 72 hours after the hurricane, a lot has been achieved, but acknowledged that “we still have a lot of work to do”, especially in Black River and southern communities.
However, the works minister said the Government was mobilising additional equipment and that other companies are providing assistance.
“The most critical infrastructure is to provide access because nothing can be done without access. So we have to find a way to reconstitute the road network.”