Harbour Drive still on edge

Homeowner Emmanuel Yisa is hoping that a tour by officials yesterday will spur much-needed action to address a long-standing flooding problem in Harbour Drive, where an unfinished gully channels floodwaters on to properties even as it erodes them, placing many homes in peril.

As he escorted St Andrew East Rural Member of Parliament Juliet Holness, Local Government and Rural Development Minister Desmond McKenzie, and other officials on a tour at the back of his home, Yisa lamented how dire the situation had become.

The unpaved gully runs behind at least 25 homes along Harbour Drive and was dug out over six years ago as part of a landslide mitigation project undertaken by the Government, but it has since been a major pain, with some retaining walls and residences on the brink of collapse due to erosion.

Frustrated by the lack of progress on the project, which is designed to take the run-off that washes down from the hills into the gully during heavy downpours into the Harbour View shore, Yisa told The Gleaner that sometimes the water behind their houses rises up to six feet.

“That volume breaks down anything that is in its way ... . The water take out the wall, take out the houses,” he said of the destructive force of the rushing water.

Yisa said that he had lost parts of the back of his home along with his back fence due to the problem, and many neighbours who had rebuilt theirs are now in danger of losing them yet again, having already moved inwards.

“We beg if they can please come and fix it. This is our property. This is life. I have my wife and child at home, so any time the rain fall, I have to be afraid,” he said.

Some residents on the other side of the gully bank have started to build inside the waterway, which Holness explained has started to change the course of the water flow.

She added that it may be that the area carved out for the gully may not be able to manage the increased volume of water coming down.

“I don’t know where you’ll be able to access the volume of funding from [to fix this], but we need help,” she said to McKenzie.

Residents who have suffered losses and are hoping for relief from the Government may also not receive any help to reconstruct boundary walls.

“For many of the Harbour View residents who are asking if you (McKenzie) will build back their wall, I’ve said to them that you can’t expect the Government to do everything. If we are able to solve the problem of the drain and further erosion, then we would have gone a far way to resolving what threatens their property. It is for many of them now to think about how they will put up back a wall or put up fencing,” the member of parliament said.

Meanwhile, some issues faced by the fast-emerging informal settlements scattered across areas in Harbour Heights have also caused grief for formal housing along Southern Cross Drive as the likelihood of soil erosion and flooding increases.

In a visit to some of the affected homes, Holness was briefed on how rainwater flows off the hill and channels mud and floodwaters into their backyards.

Teneka Gayle, a resident who spoke with The Gleaner, attested to her home becoming a muddy mess after torrential rains.

However, Holness noted that resources are simply not available to address the problem.

She explained that because many of the walls have been destroyed in the past, some of which she assisted in replacing, the problem will only reoccur, and, therefore, urged homeowners to take personal responsibility in reporting illegal constructions to the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC).

“When we see our neighbour building in a way that we know is inimical to the life and property and others, you have to say something about it,” she implored the residents, adding that the problem was too severe to correct overnight.

“When these walls break, there is no government anywhere at all that can keep finding the resources to be able to run behind the problem that is perpetual. That isn’t possible,” she said.

McKenzie noted that it was not fair to citizens who invested in their homes on the flat to be suffering this fate.

He noted that residents on the hill may need to be relocated to ease the pressure on those at the lower level.

McKenzie said that his ministry would be working with Holness and would continue to have discussions with the National Works Agency and the KSAMC to see how the issue could be addressed.

“But as the member of parliament rightfully said, we can’t say that it is going to be fixed tomorrow. This is a serious problem; this is what we do to communities when we impose illegal construction ... and I’m being very strong about it because the people in Harbour View did not deserve to have this on the top,” he said.

He also noted that while he was not against people building homes, they should not put others in a situation where their personal safety is compromised.

“Because sooner or later, when that hillside is eroded, many of what is up there might wash right down,” he said.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com