Lyme Bay Crew Rehabilitate Halfway House in Clarendon

A halfway house in Clarendon was the recent beneficiary of engineering and construction work, carried out by crew members of  the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Lyme Bay, which is making its first visit to the island.

The Disaster Relief Troop of the British naval vessel, which has been in port at the Kingston Wharves since September 24, remodeled the building to provide a doctor’s office, medical cubicles, dormitories and a dining area.

Commanding Officer of the RFA Lyme Bay, Captain Paul Minter, in an interview with JIS News during a media tour of the vessel, today (September 28), said this visit is part of a six-month Caribbean tour to touch base with authorities and demonstrate the ship’s capabilities.

He said the team did “considerable work” at the halfway house on September 25 and 26. “We spent two days putting in some work to make it more habitable and return it to a usable state,” he said.

The ship’s captain made courtesy calls on Governor General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, as well on Minister of  National Security,  Hon. Peter Bunting, on September 24.

The RFA Lyme Bay has loaded humanitarian and disaster relief and UK Department for International Development stores to support relief operations in the region and has completed a number of successful training exercises in the Caribbean over the course of the tour.

Significant assistance was provided to Dominica following Tropical Storm Erika, which caused devastation to the island, recently.

“During the hurricane season, the primary reason for being out here is to be able to provide support and relief should that be required. We were tasked to sail to Dominica and provide whatever support, so we loaded as quickly as possible any last minute supplies that we needed and we arrived there two days later,” Captain Minter said.

For six days, the team provided water and food to 10 communities in the country. They also re-opened roads, removed mud, recovered cars, cleared churches and schools, and also provided medical care to 35 patients.

The ship will depart the Jamaican port on Wednesday (September  30), for Belize.