Jamaican workers in Blyth tell of devastation of their homes, farms awaiting them upon return

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

At G.L. Hubbard Ltd., Susan Hubbard boasts that every single rutabaga (she is hesitant to even venture a guess at how many make their way through the plant in a year) is touched by hand in some way. The hands, so very often, are those of Temporary Foreign Workers who have come to Blyth from Jamaica - an aspect of life in the village for decades.

 

On Tuesday, Oct. 28, Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica, rapidly intensifying into a Category 5 storm before hitting the island nation. It first touched the island near New Hope on the western shore of Jamaica causing devastating damage, surpassing that of 1988’s Hurricane Gilbert, making it the strongest hurricane to ever hit the island.

 

Damage has been estimated to be in the neighbourhood of between $6 and $7 billion U.S. About 120,000 structures have had their roofs ripped off and, as of writing, about half of the population still has no power. Thirty-five people have lost their lives, though that number is expected to climb as more isolated parts of the island become accessible again.

 

Over the weekend, Jamaica’s High Commissioner to Canada, Marsha Coore Lobban, said the country “[feels] the love” of an “overwhelming” level of support from Canada specifically.

 

Locally, four of Hubbard’s employees have devastating stories to tell and yet they are all grateful to have not experienced loss of life as a result of the disaster. All of them can tell stories of friends or family members who are facing hardship in the aftermath of the storm.

 

Susan, in speaking to The Citizen, said she simply can’t imagine the uncertainty and being pulled in so many directions that her beloved employees are experiencing. On one hand, she said, the natural instinct is to want to return home - to be there, at your home with your loved ones - and yet, by keeping up with their jobs in Canada, they’re in the best position to help their own situations when they return next month.

 

She said that while the men have had some harrowing times, sometimes waiting for days to hear from loved ones or to be able to send money home due to dragging connection issues, they have found solace in speaking with one another and pulling together.

 

Robert Walker is the elder statesman of the group. He has been working for the season at Hubbard’s since 1988. 
Walker lives in New Market in St. Elizabeth Parish - a half-hour’s drive inland from New Hope, where the hurricane made landfall.
This is where Walker has lived his whole life. The roof has been torn off of his house and his farm has been devastated with his goats gone and his peanut crops torn up. He will have to, as he said, “fix what can be fixed, plant what can be planted,” and move into a new phase of his life. 

 

Walker said it was four days before he was able to connect with his adult daughter, confirming that she was alive and well. Those were long days, he said, but with an ending that fills him with gratitude.

 

Even now, he says, his connection with home is hit-or-miss and he is, at times, unable to send funds home to his daughter.
Shaldon Grant is another Hubbard’s employee who has had the roof come off of his home as a result of the storm. He has been working in Canada on and off since 2005, taking a long break between 2007 and 2011, but this is his first year working for Hubbard’s in Blyth.

 

He lives in Trelawny Parish, just northeast of New Hope and New Market, but not far away. In addition to losing the roof of his home, his crops were completely wiped out. Before the storm, he farmed bananas, plantains and more, but those crops will all have to be replanted as time and resources allow.

 

Grant too is grateful that he didn’t lose anyone close to him in the hurricane. Furthermore, he was happy to know that the walls of his home are still standing, so he has hope that he’ll be able to repair the home to a certain extent, instead of having to rebuild from scratch, though, like Walker, he will have a number of new expenses, such as new beds and furniture and extensive water damage to tangle with. Walker has had to rebuy a number of things for his home that were wiped out by the storm.
Orlando Jensen also lives in Trelawny Parish. He is relatively new to Hubbard’s, only being transferred to the plant earlier in this season.

 

He has been in contact with his mother, who has told him that she is alright, but his six acres of crops - mostly yams, bananas and sugarcane - has been completely wiped out, meaning that he too will have to start from scratch upon his return.
Raime Binns, who was not on site, but working over at the farm on the day that The Citizen visited, said that he is grateful for not being affected as badly as some of his co-workers have. He said his home has lost many of its windows and it remains without power for his wife and daughter, but that he is blessed that that’s all that happened as a result of the storm. His son, however, who lives with his mother, Binns’ former partner, has lost his house, so he knows there’s work to be done to get his life back on track when Binns returns from his 18th season of working with Hubbard’s.

 

Hubbard said that one of her regular employees, Joseph, chose to stay in Jamaica this season, rather than make the trip to Blyth. She’s been in touch with him and he has lost his home as well.

 

While Hubbard has not set up anything official for her employees, she welcomes help for them from members of the community who are able to spare it. For these men to return home with some extra money in their pocket would make a world of difference, she said.

 

If you’re able to help, get in touch with Hubbard at 519-525-0490.