Truth and misconceptions about Portland Cottage

THE EDITOR, Madam:

During times of disaster, Portland Cottage is often the poster boy that NGOs and charitable aid agencies use to meet their goals-getting funding agenda.

The Jamaica Red Cross, however, is a legitimate agency that works with us and is ever present in the Portland Cottage community.

Much of what some people are saying in the media about Portland Cottage in baked in half-truths, or they are just being deceptive, e.g., ‘Portland Cottage is flooding out’. This is a half-truth.

Most of Portland Cottage is on elevated ground. It is not flooded out. Some are even posting photographs from years ago when Portland Cottage bore the brunt of pervious hurricanes.

Granted that parts of Portland Cottage abuts the swamp in the lower section of the community, and that section is prone to flooding. We understand and accept this, and our community works with it. Let’s not forget that maintaining the drains would, undoubtedly, prevent flooding in those susceptible areas.

Most of Portland Cottage is on high ground, and the community shelter, located at the Portland Cottage school, is on higher ground. Citizens can move to the shelter at a moment’s notice.

However, the Government and municipality, in their ‘wisdom’, have shut down the shelter in Portland Cottage and evacuated willing citizens on JUTC buses to a shelter outside of the community.

I and other members of our community do not understand this rationale and think it is a mistake to take such action.

I understand that the Government wants to err on the side of caution, but this evacuation move is over the top. Portland Cottage is a safe community. Evacuation should be to higher ground in the community. The bottom line is we need a proper shelter in our community that can also serve citizens from adjacent communities.

Authnel S. Reid