Yallahs, St Thomas residents fearful of flooding due to highway

Amid the country bracing for the passage of Hurricane Beryl, some residents of Yallahs, St Thomas are fearful of flooding arising from water runoff from the recently constructed Paul Bogle Highway.

They say for several months now their front yards have been turned into ponds whenever it rains because the highway is much higher than their premises.

The residents have complained that when the highway was being built there was no plan put in place for the water to flow from their premises.

They are concerned about flooding arising from the impending hurricane.

“Now that Hurricane Beryl is a threat to Jamaica, I am just fearful because I know many homes in my community are going to be flooded out.

“We are happy for the new highway but proper drains were not put in place to prevent our yards being flooded when it rains. As one can see, the roadway is built up much higher than our premises and there is no way for the water to run out from our premises when it rains,” a very concerned resident said.

Another resident pointed to water which was settled at the entrance of the Dudley Burke Lane and said when it rains, that lane is turned into a huge pond and residents have great difficulty accessing their homes.

A woman recounted that when her 16-year-old daughter was to sit an exam in May, her front yard was flooded because it had rained in the night.

“The water in the front yard was waist high and a male relative had to lift her on his shoulder to the highway so she could go to school to do her exam. We did not have flooding in our yards before the highway was built and it is very traumatic for us to enter and exit our homes when it rains heavily,” she said.

When contacted today Member of Parliament for St Thomas Western James Robertson said “these are issues which have to be addressed.”

Robertson, in referring to the South Coast Highway, said the Paul Bogle Highway from Harbour View to Portland and Morant Bay to Cedar Valley has transformed the East.

However, he said “there are many teething pains all of which are now in the hands of the international consultants and the National Works Agency.

“These infrastructural projects have not yet been completed and handed over to the Government of Jamaica, “ he added.

- Barbara Gayle

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