Harbour Drive on edge

Every time it rains, residents of Harbour Drive are left on edge as they watch the ground sink from beneath their feet due to the construction of a gully next to their homes. Designed to channel water away from nearby hills, this trench has become a nightmare for residents.

Resident Carol Jumpp-Graham explained that this precarious situation started six years ago, when rain washed away stones initially placed in the channel. As a result, some residents resorted to using tyres to reinforce their properties.

Jumpp-Graham told The Gleaner, “We are afraid because people’s lives are in danger. We had to give a tenant notice, because at any minute now the walls could collapse.” In total, 14 perimeter walls have crumbled, with cracks emerging in several houses.

Completed in 2015, the Management of Slope Stability in Communities (MOSSAIC) project was implemented by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) in conjunction with the National Works Agency (NWA). Its objective was to reduce the incidence of landslides in Harbour Heights.

Residents of Harbour Drive reported that they woke up one morning to see excavation work taking place behind their properties. Within the first year of completion, five perimeter walls gave way after the passage of a hurricane. This was followed by an additional nine perimeter walls two years ago.

On August 26 this year, more foundations were left exposed as a retaining wall collapsed in the chasm with the onset of heavy rains associated with a tropical wave. Jumpp-Graham’s mother, 75-year-old Ethel Peat-Smith, is anxious about the hurricane season. “I am really fearful when it starts to rain heavily. I have my little garden and I can’t even go near that now, because I could be going so many feet down if I slip.”

REALLY SADDENED

She noted that some holes are as much as eight feet deep. Rodents have also begun to crawl through these holes on to their properties. “I am really saddened by what has taken place, because we would not have bought a property with a gully like this behind us,” said Peat-Smith.

Residents are hoping that their political representatives can come together to address the problem. On October 13, 2020, Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston East and Port Royal Phillip Paulwell expressed concerns in Parliament that the languishing project could lead to residents being washed over a precipice if another deluge comes.

MP for neighbouring St Andrew East Rural, Juliett Holness, responded by saying that the NWA has confirmed that repairs to Harbour Drive have been incorporated in the existing budget for the South Coast Highway Project.

Public Defender Arlene Harrison Henry expressed frustration at the slow pace of redress from state authorities. Questions also remain, as communication seen by The Gleaner between the public defender and the NWA in August reveal that work has not commenced, as additional funds is being sought. Some $140 million is now being requested, as the budgeted amount of $80 million is insufficient due to the expansion of the project’s scope of work.

When contacted by The Gleaner, NWA Communications Manager Stephen Shaw said the responsibility for fixing the gully now rests with the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC).

INCOMPLETE PROJECT

ODPEM has also washed its hands clean of any responsibility. A letter from ODPEM sent to the public defender’s office, dated February 12, 2016, stated, “Effectively, ODPEM sees the project as completed; as signed off on by our designers and site supervisors – the NWA.”

However, this claim has been rubbished by Deputy Public Defender Victor Hemmings, who said, “When they say that the project is complete, they are implying that it now goes on to another agency, which means that they have no responsibility for it ... [But] it would be unfair to put that under the responsibility of KSAMC, because it is an incomplete project.”

Even though ODPEM acknowledged in its letter that “some of the drainage infrastructure did not perform as expected,” they concluded that an “act of God” is responsible for the damage caused to the MOSSAIC project.

Harrison Henry chastised ODPEM and the NWA for acting with “utter immunity”. She said, “The plan was always for those people to live with that gaping trench at the back of their yards ... . They have wrecked these people’s homes and have just walked away.”

Despite the Harbour View Citizens’ Association writing to the prime minister last year August and subsequently delivering a petition to the NWA in June this year, no work has commenced, even though assurances were given that work would start in July. Until then, the residents of Harbour Drive continue to be on edge, wondering which shower of rain will be the downpour that destroys their homes.