Flood bill being tallied as Long Hill clean-up continues
Published:Tuesday | January 12, 2021 | 12:11 AMAdrian Frater and Hopeton Bucknor/Gleaner Writers
Western Bureau:
The authorities are still tabulating the cost of last Friday’s flood rains, which did extensive damage in the vicinity of the Long Hill main road on the outskirts of Montego Bay in St James as a massive clean-up drive continues.
Janel Ricketts, community relations officer for the National Works Agency’s (NWA) Western Region, said that work crews have been feverishly trying to restore normalcy following the flooding, which damaged several business places and trapped motorists for hours.
“It is a combination of factors, which led to the problem along the stretch of roadway between Lethe and Long Hill,” Ricketts said. “There was a gully upstream which breached its banks and resulted in significant flooding in other sections … . We had quite a bit of boulders, stones, and other debris along the roadway, creating a bit of a problem for motorists.
St James Southern Member of Parliament Homer Davis visited the affected areas over the past weekend and praised the efforts of the NWA team.
“I must commend the NWA team, which took on the task of clearing the road on Friday night and worked through the night to open up what is the main thoroughfare between Montego Bay and Savanna-la-Mar,” he said.
The former Montego Bay mayor gave a commitment to address the issues that caused the flooding to prevent a recurrence as even under ideal conditions, the Long Hill road can be treacherous and pose a challenge to motorists.
Several communities, including Cornwall Courts, Wiltshire, Lethe, the Irwin Housing Scheme, King Gate, and Belmont, were battered by the flood rains.
In addition to the flooding in Cornwall Courts, the sewerage systems also were compromised, causing a backflow in several homes.
One angry resident said that the backing up of sewage in their homes has been a long-standing problem despite repeated complaints to the authorities.
“The engineers who did this project have done us a great disservice because the sewerage system is not able to withstand the slightest flooding, and this is not what we bargained for when we bought our homes,” the resident told The Gleaner. “The authorities don’t care about us as they have not been responding to our complaints over the years.”
In the Wiltshire area, the construction of buildings in the wetland area, which interferes with the flow of the water, is being blamed for the flooding. Some residents are calling on the St James Municipal Corporation to sanction those who have created the problem.