Drain cleaning set back by illegal garbage disposal
June 18, 2006
MONTEGO BAY, St James - The National Works Agency (NWA), which is responsible for cleaning the country's main drains, expects to complete in a week all the work necessary to minimise the flooding that affects western Jamaican communities each hurricane season.
In the meantime, residents from Trelawny to Westmoreland are taking early precautions to secure property and possessions, mindful of the havoc wreaked on lives last year by storm events that reached record levels.
NWA communications manager Stephen Shaw says the region's fate is really up to its residents.
"If persons who live in upscale communities don't see the importance of proper garbage disposal, or the environmental impact that improper garbage disposal has, they'll have no one to blame but themselves," said Shaw.
"It's a message that we continue to preach, but I am not sure that message is getting across as effectively as it ought to."
NWA had announced a $22 million drain cleaning programme for western Jamaica.
A week into the storm season, which began June 1, the agency had completed 60 per cent of drain works, including clearance of garbage and debris, "but it is really up to the residents to dispose of their garbage properly," said Shaw, "otherwise we will be back at square one."
The agency spokesman was referring, in particular, to the North Gully, South Gully, Pyre River, and the Chelsea drains near the Irwin community in St James. The South Gully, cleaned three weeks ago, had reverted to its previous state, he said, because of improper disposal of garbage there.
"It's one of the biggest challenges we face ... we are virtually back at zero," said the works agency spokesman.
A similar situation exists in the community of Granville, where constant flooding has left a legacy of potholes and declining drivable road surface.
"The drain which runs right by the school was cleaned, but it's like the people keep throwing garbage, and whenever rain falls it washes over into the school," said Odette Morris, a secretary at the Granville All-Age School...
Author: Pat Roxborough
Source: Jamaica Observer
