Port Maria residents call for new drainage system
Published:Thursday | January 23, 2014 | 12:00 AM
Orantes Moore, Gleaner Writer
PORT MARIA, St Mary:
RESIDENTS OF Port Maria in St Mary are calling for the authorities to implement a new drainage system after heavy rain caused extensive flooding in the town earlier this week.
Between last Saturday and Monday, communities such as Grants Town, Little Bay, Days Mountain, and Mason Hall experienced heavy rainfall, which led to the closure of several schools across the parish and the post office in Port Maria.
Flooding in the parish's low-lying areas has become an all-too-frequent problem for residents who fear their houses and businesses will be washed away whenever it rains.
Patricia Porter, a resident of Warner Street in Port Maria, told The Gleaner. "This time, the water rose to around two feet high, but didn't come into my house.
"This happens anytime it rains too hard, and even if it's not raining heavily in Port Maria, the water runs down from other communities in the hills into our rivers, Pagee and Outram, which burst their banks.
"The drainage system in Port Maria is a big problem. The drains aren't cleaned very well. This has to be sorted out as soon as possible because we can't be getting floods like this all the time.
"Right now, every time we see rain, we have to pack up our things and move them to the back of the house," she added.
Porter's comments were echoed by her neighbour, Sandra Gordon, who believes the council must invest in a better drainage system if the issue is to be resolved.
what needs to be done
She said: "We are busy cleaning up this mess, but we're back to square one as soon as it rains. The drains need to be cleaned and the rivers need to be widened to accommodate all the water that's being diverted into them."
Gordon's sister, Donna, added: "In terms of the future, something needs to be done because this is the eighth time we've been flooded in eight years."
top priority
Trecia Harris-Smiley, councillor for Port Maria, agrees that one of the Government's top priorities must be to investigate and neutralise the flooding issue.
She said: "Different agencies, engineering companies and UTech research students have done assessments and their reports all said the same thing, which is that the Outram and Pagee rivers need to be dredged.
"It's going to take a lot of money, and I don't know when it's going to be done, but I've always asked that we try to look into this."