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Hurricane Beryl destroys crops in Jamaica, leaves islanders facing food shortages

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Hurricane Beryl destroys crops in Jamaica, leaves islanders facing food shortages
News

News

Hurricane Beryl destroys crops in Jamaica, leaves islanders facing food shortages

2024-07-09 04:28 Last Updated At:04:30

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaicans will contend with food shortages in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, which is estimated to have destroyed over $6.4 million in food crops and supporting infrastructure, officials in Jamaica said on Monday.

Floyd Green, Jamaica’s agriculture minister, said preliminary assessments indicate significant damage to crops including vegetables, tubers such as yam and cassava, and fruits like breadfruit, ackee, mangoes and bananas, which are popular food sources.

He said livestock and fishing sectors were also impacted significantly by the record-breaking storm that unleashed tumultuous winds and rainfall as it traveled westward just off Jamaica’s south coast last week on route to the Cayman Islands, Mexico, and Texas.

“We have seen about 85% of our bananas and our plantain lines go down in Portland and St Mary,” Green said after visiting farms in the southern parish of St Elizabeth.

Yam farmers in southern Trelawny have asked for assistance as they report significant damage to their operation.

“We do understand that it needs a quick response at this time and we know our farmers are out there and thankfully, they are resilient,” Green said. “They are planning to get back to farming and we at the ministry (of agriculture and fisheries) will be willing to assist them.”

The Jamaican agriculture minister said farmers who grow crops in greenhouses in the parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and St Elizabeth have been hard-hit.

“This is going to be a massive blow for our vegetable (crop) lines," said Green.

Small-scale poultry farmers have sustained major damage to chicken houses, he said.

On Monday, Glendon Harris, a former president of the farmers’ lobby Jamaica Agricultural Society, forecast that the damage to the agricultural sector will result in a disruption to the food chain supply on the island.

“We are going to see a shortage of some of our basic food items,” Harris said. “St Elizabeth is the known breadbasket, and Manchester is close behind, so based on the hit they have taken, it is going to affect the ready food for the market across the island.”

The Jamaican government is continuing its assessment of the damage wrought by Hurricane Beryl, which caused widespread damage mainly along the south coast of Jamaica. Beryl diminished into tropical storm, hitting Texas on Monday, after hitting Mexico, Jamaica, Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Three people were reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica.

The United Nations spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said on Monday that the organization is supporting authorities to help with access to clean water, shelter, food and health services by sending teams to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Jamaica.

A woman walks past a food stall destroyed by Hurricane Beryl in the fishing settlement of Rocky Point, Clarendon, Jamaica, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)

A woman walks past a food stall destroyed by Hurricane Beryl in the fishing settlement of Rocky Point, Clarendon, Jamaica, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A$AP Rocky turned down a final prosecution plea offer of 180 days in jail, risking the possibility of a guilty verdict and years in prison as jury selection began at his trial on Tuesday.

The agreement offered to the 36-year-old hip-hop star, fashion mogul and actor was to plead guilty to one of two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Los Angeles County prosecutors would also recommend a seven-year suspended sentence, three years of probation and the six-month jail term.

But Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, told a judge he respectfully declined.

He is accused of firing at a former friend near a Hollywood hotel in 2021, and could get a maximum sentence of 24 years in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.

Rocky's attorney Joe Tacopina also revealed for the first time in court Tuesday that the defense plans to call witnesses to testify that a firearm seen on a security video is a starter pistol that Rocky carried as a prop for security.

A panel of more than 100 prospective jurors were summoned to the downtown Los Angeles courtroom and packed into the gallery. Opening statements will come once 12 of them and alternates are seated. That won't be until at least Wednesday, when selection is set to resume. Cameras will be allowed in the courtroom starting with openings.

The Grammy-nominated hip-hop star's longtime partner is Rihanna, and the couple have two toddler sons together. Tacopina suggested that it's unlikely the pop star will show up in court.

Rocky has been named one of the celebrity chairs of the Met Gala in May, and has a major role in a Spike Lee-directed film with Denzel Washington to be released soon after. But his life could be upended with a conviction.

Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold has said he hopes to seat a jury quickly, and is keeping strict limits on how long attorneys can question prospective jurors.

“Mr. Mayers is an entertainer," Arnold told the prospective jurors. "His stage name is A$AP rocky. His life partner is also an entertainer. Her name is Rihanna. Because Mr. Mayers is an entertainer, a celebrity, that cannot harm him, and it cannot benefit him."

Of the initial 12 jurors questioned, four said they knew who Rocky was, and 10 said they knew who Rihanna was.

In 2023, another judge ruled after a preliminary hearing that Rocky should stand trial on charges that he fired a gun at Terell Ephron, a childhood friend who testified that their relationship had soured and a feud came to a head on the night of Nov. 6, 2021. Ephron testified that bullets grazed his knuckles.

Initial questioning on Tuesday revealed that the recent Los Angeles-area wildfires have affected many of the potential jurors' lives, including one woman who is fostering many displaced animals, and at least one man who had to evacuate. The judge himself revealed he had to evacuate from his home for 11 days.

“Luckily the house didn’t burn down," Arnold said.

One man was excused early in the process because he said his anti-gun feelings were too strong for him to be fair.

Tacopina tried to explore the potential jurors' feelings about hip-hop artists and their music, and several said they had negative feelings, though not overwhelming ones. Some cited parenting as the reason.

“I used to love it but then I had a kid,” one panelist said.

Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, questioning for the prosecution, told those with negative feelings, “You will not be called upon to render a verdict on how you feel about rap music, do you understand that?" All said yes.

Tacopina, who like his client Rocky is from New York and has represented President Donald Trump, also asked whether anyone on the jury is rubbed the wrong way by New Yorkers, bringing laughs throughout the room.

“When I get up here with this ridiculous accent, which I try not to have but I do, is anyone going to have a problem?" he said. “I will point out that we gave you guys the Dodgers a few years ago.”

No one conceded any negative feelings.

“I love LA," the lawyer added.

FILE - A$AP Rocky, left, and Rihanna attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala in New York on Sept. 13, 2021. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - A$AP Rocky, left, and Rihanna attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala in New York on Sept. 13, 2021. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Rapper A$AP Rocky at Pre-Grammy Gala And Salute To Industry Icons in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 9, 2019. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Rapper A$AP Rocky at Pre-Grammy Gala And Salute To Industry Icons in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 9, 2019. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Rapper A$AP Rocky appears in a Los Angeles Superior courtroom on Aug. 17, 2022, where he pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool, File)

FILE - Rapper A$AP Rocky appears in a Los Angeles Superior courtroom on Aug. 17, 2022, where he pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool, File)

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