Residents fearful

‘St Bess’ residents fearful

Despite reports that the parish of St Elizabeth is adequately prepared for a disaster, some residents are still fearful, based on past experiences.

Two of the disaster-prone areas in the parish are Goshen and along the Santa Cruz Bypass.

Fitzroy Jones, who lives in Pink Lane of Goshen, has a concern of flooding during the season and said his greatest fear is for the children of the community. Jones further said that the flooding on the main road is not as bad now since drain-cleaning activities began.

“My greatest fear is for the children of the community. If the flooding starts and they have to cross the water; if the gully comes over, they may drown,” Jones said.

One resident who lives along the Bypass has similar concerns about flooding and said the worse she has experienced it was during the

passage of Hurricane Ivan.

The disaster coordinator for the parish, Claudine Forbes, said that the regular drain-cleaning activities from the Roads and Works Department and the National Works Agency (NWA) were still ongoing.

Howard Hendricks, community relations officer at the NWA’s central region, said that their work was carried out through the assistance of the National Irrigation Council, which often provides machinery and funding for the project.

“The NWA have cleaned drains in Pepper, Goshen, Rocky Hill, Santa Cruz, and also along the Union to Oxford main road. In July, we cleaned drains right across the parish,” said Hendricks.

In addressing the concerns of the resident living along the Santa Cruz Bypass, Hendricks said that although they conducted periodical cleaning of the major drains in and around Santa Cruz, it was an area that is difficult to prevent flooding as much of the water came down all the drains and from the hills to settle there.

In the instance where a flood cannot be prevented, Hendricks said that what is to be considered is the restoration and rescue component.