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NWA having difficulties mobilising equipment to clear blocked roads in St Andrew, St Thomas

Published:Saturday | October 24, 2020 | 12:23 PM
Residents of Shooters Hill in St Andrew dig through mud for a missing 15-year-old student of The Queen’s School, Saneeka Leachman, who, along with her father Romeo Leachman, was killed by a landslide that destroyed their house during yesterday's heavy rains. The NWA says several roads in east rural St Andrew, where Shooters Hill is located, have been cut off by land slippages.

Several communities in rural St Andrew remain marooned, following yesterday's heavy rains across the island. 

Speaking with Radio Jamaica this afternoon, the National Works Agency's (NWA) communications manager, Stephen Shaw, said roads in the Papine and Bull Bay area of east rural St Andrew have been cut off.

Several areas in St Thomas have also been affected by land slippages, among them the Trinityville main road in eastern St Thomas, which Shaw said was among the agency's priorities at this time.   

However, he acknowledged that the NWA has been having a problem with mobilising heavy duty equipment to clear the thoroughfares. 

"We're seeking to get additional equipment based on the number of landslides, rockfall that we have seen in some of these areas in St Andrew and St Thomas," he said. 

The heavy rains are expected to persist until tomorrow the Meteorological Office says, as a trough continues to produce periods of heavy showers, thunderstorms and gusty winds.

A Flash Flood Watch remains in effect for low-lying areas of Jamaica until 5:00 p.m. today.

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