Mayor calls for more resources to help find couple swept away in St. Catherine floodwaters

By Prince Moore    

 

Chairman of the St. Catherine Municipal Corporation and Mayor of Spanish Town, Norman Scott, is calling for more resources to assist in the search for a couple swept away in the Worthy Park community on Tuesday during heavy rains.

 

It's reported that sometime after 4 p.m., the driver of a pick-up motor truck was attempting to cross a flooded roadway when the vehicle was swept away.

 

Members of the St. Catherine North Police, the fire brigade and a team from the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard launched a search of the area on Wednesday after the couple was reported missing.

 

Mr. Scott expressed concern that not enough is being done to assist with the search. 

 

"It is unacceptable by the government. The government ought to have put more interest and deploy more resources to the place so that at least the vehicle and the bodies would have been recovered. This thing happened [Tuesday] after 2 p.m., I'm told, and a day after, and nothing can be found. It's not a wide area. It's not an ocean. It's a simple, small area," he argued. 

 

Mr. Scott said there is a need for signage in the area to warn unsuspecting motorists of the dangers along the roadway during heavy rains.

 

"I'm going to be speaking with the NWA (National Works Agency) parish manager to put something in place for that area, because it's a dangerous area. It's a treacherous area. And something has to be done in respect of signalizing, [warning] motorists passing in that area to look out for water in that area," he said. 

 

Residents have also been assisting in the search for the missing man and woman.