Even within the widespread destruction and human misery caused by Hurricane Melissa in western Jamaica, the parish of Westmoreland is a special special case. It is in need of urgent and specific interventions. It is not merely that Westmoreland was the epicentre of the Category 5 storm, which made landfall at the community of New Hope, the hurricane laid bare – as several commentators have pointed out – the parish’s old problem of economic under-development and social inequities. Not least of these are the fragility of its land tenure and limited employment opportunities.