Principal: STETHS rebuilding stronger from Hurricane Melissa, school still needs critical infrastructure

Eight months after Hurricane Melissa battered St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS), Principal Keith Wellington says the institution is on track to emerge stronger than before but is still in need of critical infrastructure to ensure greater resilience against future disasters.

Addressing the school's graduation ceremony today, Wellington said signs of recovery are evident across the Santa Cruz-based institution and expressed confidence that the school would be fully functional by the start of the new academic year in September.

"The day after the hurricane, I did say that it would take us at least eight months to recover. We are now about eight months on, and the signs are there that we will be fully functional from September," he said.

Wellington noted that the recovery effort has been supported through hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance from the Ministry of Education and the National Education Trust, helping to restore facilities damaged by the powerful storm.

He argued, however, that rebuilding should not simply restore what was lost but should make the institution better prepared for future emergencies.

Among the school's most urgent needs is a generator capable of powering its water system during prolonged outages.

"If there's a hurricane tomorrow, we still don't have a generator," Wellington said. "We need a generator to run the well."

The principal pointed to STETHS' longstanding role as a community lifeline during disasters, supplying water to residents of Santa Cruz as well as essential services, including the fire station, clinics, primary schools and basic schools.

"Even to this day, we are still having to support them with water," he said.

Wellington added that the school also requires additional backup power systems to ensure it can continue serving as "the shining light on the hill" during emergencies.

"We need to ensure that we are fully equipped with backup power," he said, while appealing for continued government support to complete the recovery process.

The school was among several educational institutions severely affected by Hurricane Melissa, which caused extensive damage to buildings and infrastructure across sections of Jamaica.

- Albert Ferguson

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