00:00Devastation and destruction in every direction.
00:09Here in Black River, Jamaica, where Hurricane Melissa offloaded her Category 5 fury,
00:14the need for assistance is evident to the eye before a single word is uttered.
00:19The NGO, the concerned Muslims of TNT, made it to this area
00:23as it began distributing relief supplies to affected parts of the island on Monday.
00:28The CMTT describes the damage to property, road, electrical infrastructure,
00:34businesses and beachfronts as unbelievable.
00:37Shoaib, who was born in Black River and eventually built a business there,
00:41says he left for Spanish Town the Thursday before Melissa struck.
00:46The incident cut him off from his family for days as he was unable to reach them by telephone.
00:51I was kind of worried, so I tried to come down about two days after the storm
00:56and I couldn't reach the area.
00:59But then on Saturday I came down and when I reached here it was by total devastation.
01:06I was shocked.
01:07I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
01:1095% of the houses, totally damaged.
01:15He's one of the fortunate ones.
01:17His family and business survived the hurricane.
01:19Today, the CMTT says it was able to provide relief supplies to the St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland parishes,
01:27located on the southwestern side of Jamaica.
01:30As that Monday, the group would spend a day on the road was able to undertake four distribution drives,
01:36while the fifth had to be done with assistance from civil servant Latanya Dennis,
01:40due to impassable roads in the southern region.
01:43A mosque in the town of Newell was the first to receive aid,
01:59followed by the Newell Medical Center, where the group states the staff have been working tirelessly around the clock.
02:07And a third distribution was done at the Newell High School shelter.
02:12Shelter manager Melva Williams points to a bit of an improvement at that site.
02:16When we start, we start with 121, but now we are down to 54 persons.
02:23So far, we get a lot of assistance.
02:27Even now, we appreciate.
02:29We appreciate a lot.
02:31So far, we would like more like dental and those things.
02:36There's a lot of persons, so we have all puff flies and things.
02:39But food supplies are going on.
02:41Thanks so much.
02:42That is sanitation.
02:43Yes, sanitation.
02:44Sanitizing it.
02:45Yeah, because...
02:46Chemicals.
02:47Right.
02:47According to holistic consultant Dr. Laren Parchmont,
02:51health remains a major concern in some areas.
02:54Because we have a lot of dead animals in St. Elizabeth now,
02:58and the waters we have on the road,
03:00so we have to help in person how they can understand not to touch these things,
03:04stay away from these things as best as possible,
03:06right there to water, that they can get cantonated.
03:09As for the response to the relief provided...
03:12Thank you to the Muslim society that is here today, that is giving so much to Jamaica.
03:18The CMTT did its fourth distribution in Burns, Savannah,
03:22where it says many families suffered a lot of losses,
03:25and the homes of several elderly people were destroyed.
03:28Head of the CMTT MTAs, Mohammed, says, quote,
03:31People were generally happy that they received a hamper.
03:35They were thankful.
03:37It is very sad to see their homes destroyed.
03:39Many people still haven't received anything.
03:42Roads are still blocked,
03:44and a lot of electricity poles are leaning or falling flat underground,
03:48creating a danger to people.
03:50End quote.
03:51The group says it will be providing aid to Hanover and St. James next.
03:56Those areas are on the northwestern side of the island.
03:59Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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