Drainage guidelines to be circulated to local authorities
Published:Wednesday | June 10, 2015 | 11:41 AM
New drainage infrastructure guidelines for the approval of building and subdivision applications are to be distributed to the various local authorities in the coming weeks.
The 40-page document was formally launched at a ceremony in Kingston yesterday.
It outlines minimum stipulated basic standards for infrastructural design to facilitate the channelling of storm water away from developments.
This is to prevent flooding as a result of extreme weather patterns, thereby safeguarding lives and properties.
Developers will be required to incorporate these details into relevant plans being submitted to local planning authorities for approval.
Works and Housing Minister, Dr Omar Davies, noted that the guidelines have been long in coming.
He said it has been noted that there have been deficiencies in some development submissions, particularly with regard to drainage construction and improvement.
He said this is partly because engineering designs are being done without proper understanding of the relationship between rainfall intensity and the level of risk involved in undertaking developments.
Development of the guidelines was undertaken by the Ministry; the National Works Agency; Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management and the Water Resources Authority (WRA), in partnership with the Embassy of Japan in Jamaica, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).