Westmoreland Chamber says Melissa exposed gaps in preparedness, not storage capacity
Published:Thursday | December 18, 2025 | 12:07 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Hurricane Melissa has reignited debate over disaster readiness in Westmoreland, but the parish’s business community says the solution does not lie in constructing a new, purpose-built disaster warehouse. Instead, the storm exposed deeper weaknesses in preparedness, supply-chain coordination, infrastructure maintenance, and economic structure.
According to Moses Chybar, president of the Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the parish already has sufficient commercial storage and distribution capacity through its supermarkets, wholesalers, and private warehouses.
“At this time, the Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce and Industry does not believe there is a need for a separate, purpose-built disaster warehouse,” Chybar said. “The parish already has a significant number of supermarkets, wholesalers, and distribution centres that are capable of adequately supplying the needs of the community before, during, and after the hurricane season.”
The Westmoreland-based businessman argued that the focus should instead be on strengthening preparedness within existing businesses, ensuring adequate inventory planning, resilient infrastructure, and strict compliance with building standards.
“What is critical is that operators within the sector properly plan and stock ahead of the hurricane season, ensuring adequate inventory levels and continuity plans are in place,” Chybar said. “Strengthening preparedness at the level of existing businesses will be far more effective and sustainable than establishing a separate disaster warehouse.”
While Westmoreland did not face an immediate shortage of supermarkets or wholesalers, Hurricane Melissa disrupted road networks and logistics corridors, delaying the movement of goods into the parish. This, Chybar said, exposed a critical vulnerability.
“The most significant gap exposed by Hurricane Melissa was Westmoreland’s heavy reliance on supplies coming from outside the parish,” he noted. “When road networks and logistics channels were disrupted, restocking essential goods was delayed, despite the presence of supermarkets and wholesalers within the parish.”
FRAGILITY OF SUPPLY CHAINS
The delays, he added, in an interview with The Gleaner yesterday, highlighted the fragility of supply chains that depend almost entirely on external sources, rather than local production and processing.
The hurricane also underscored what the chamber views as a long-standing structural weakness in the parish’s economy.
“This experience once again highlighted Westmoreland’s overdependence on tourism as its primary economic driver,” Chybar said. “While the parish is a major agricultural producer, both livestock and arable farming, we lack the infrastructure to fully harness this potential through agro-processing, light manufacturing, or export-driven activity.”
As a result, when tourism is disrupted – whether by hurricanes or global shocks – income flows dry up quickly, reducing cash circulation in the local economy. Chybar said this pattern was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has resurfaced following Hurricane Melissa.
Beyond supply-chain issues, the storm exposed widespread gaps in preparedness at both the household and business levels.
“Many citizens and business operators were simply not prepared for a hurricane of this magnitude,” Chybar said. “Limited backup power, inadequate water storage, and insufficient reserves of non-perishable food that do not require refrigeration meant that immediately after the hurricane, many households found themselves without food or basic necessities.”
He stressed that the loss of electricity after a major storm is almost inevitable, regardless of hurricane category, and preparedness planning must reflect that reality.
Overall, the chamber believes that long-term resilience in Westmoreland will not come from a standalone disaster warehouse, but from strengthening existing supply chains, improving preparedness, maintaining infrastructure, diversifying the economy, enforcing building standards, and implementing a cohesive, well-communicated disaster response strategy.
“Hurricane Melissa has made it clear that Westmoreland cannot continue on its current path,” Chybar said. “Preparedness, infrastructure readiness, economic diversification, and coordinated disaster planning are no longer optional – they are essential to safeguarding the parish’s future.”