‘God will see us through’

Residents of Seaview Gardens and Riverton Meadows are anticipating flooding as Hurricane Beryl approaches the island, despite last-minute efforts by authorities to clear the garbage-choked Sandy Gully.

While many residents expressed concern on Monday, some were unbothered about the state of the waterway, which is one of the main drainage systems in the Corporate Area. In fact, they prefer it that way.

They told The Gleaner that the garbage and shrubs protect them from attacks whenever there is a conflict between residents in the neighbouring communities. Robbers, they say, would also often use the cleared gully to make a quick escape to the other side.

On Monday, the neglect was evident, with overgrown vegetation taking over the width of the gully, which carries the floodwaters from north to south, beginning in the foothills of North East St Andrew, through North West, West Central and Western St Andrew, and emptying into the sea at Hunts Bay.

“Back in the days when I was younger, you could clearly see across the gully over to Riverton Meadows. We used to play football in the gully the way it was clear, but now, the youth growing up don’t go in there to play, and that says a lot. It’s highly polluted with garbage and waste that washed down here,” one Seaview Gardens resident, who wished not to be named, told The Gleaner.

“To be honest, we see this as a protection, because men used to run across and rob us easily. The pollution block dem out. Dem can’t run ‘cross the gully now,” he said.

Another resident of Seaview Gardens, John Jones, told The Gleaner that he, too, is not worried.

“I am not worried about it. Although the gully could overflow, the road and the walls between us will offer some form of protection. God will see us through. It’s the people who live lower like the scavengers and people in poor building conditions over Riverton I am more worried about. They will get the wrath if they don’t move to higher grounds,” he said.

St Andrew Western Member of Parliament Anthony Hylton said the gully has not been cleaned in several years.

Hylton said that despite highlighting the state of the gully in his annual contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the House of Representatives, his concerns have fallen on deaf ears.

“For the last five years, I have been advocating for the problem to be addressed … . I am praying that the temporary work being done currently is sufficient to mitigate the threatened damage,” Hylton told The Gleaner on Monday.

Hylton warned that if the gully, which he had, on previous occasions, described as a “grey rhinoceros”, is not cleaned, it could have devastating consequences for not just his constituents, but also to persons and property in the Greater Kingston and St Andrew Area and an important asset in Jamaica’s economic development effort, the Port of Kingston.

“I am feeling terrified. I’m feeling very very anxious because the last heavy rain, and it was not a storm, ... the water was cresting just below the bridge, and with a storm coming, I have a number of concerns,” he said.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com