The Jamaican Government has introduced legislation to establish the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA)—a move with direct and significant relevance to…

Government agencies and residents have begun clearing hurricane debris from the mangrove wetlands at Parottee, restoring the coastal buffer that protects homes and land from erosion and flooding. The work is the beginning of a years-long restoration effort with direct implications for how the community’s future is planned.

A Black River business owner has challenged the government’s inland rebuild plan, arguing that large parcels of undamaged land already exist within the town itself, and that a new city built outside Black River’s existing boundaries cannot perform the functions the town has served for three centuries.

Five weeks after Melissa, Parottee remains a scene of devastation, and a major debate has opened over whether residents should rebuild in a community that disaster experts say is too vulnerable to sustain. The human cost of that question, and what it means for land rights, is becoming clearer.