Portmore authorities to review infrastructure and approval mechanism in aftermath of flooding

 

The Portmore Municipal Corporation will be re-examining infrastructure and how it approves developments in the aftermath of flooding in some communities last week.

 

The two days of torrential rainfall resulted in severe flooding in Waterford, Westmeade Willows, Garveymeade, Bridgeport and Westport.

 

Councillor for the Bridgeport Division and Chairman of the Disaster Preparedness Committee, Kenord Grant, says it was clear from the extent of the flooding that the capacity of stormwater drains were inadequate.

 

Mr. Grant says there is also concern that with the construction of more developments, natural soak-aways no longer exist. 

 

"What we certainly have learned from this situation is that our engineers now have to look at the potential danger for future systems. Climate change is real and so we now need to be very realistic when we are designing and our technocrats have to also be very realistic when we are approving developments. My caution is to the developers to design for extraordinary circumstances and for the technocrats within the agencies to also consider extraordinary circumstances when we are rendering approvals," he proposed.

 

There were also reports of flooding in West Cumberland, Marine Park, Braeton and Greater Portmore which resulted in a shelter being opened at the Portmore HEART Academy.

 

Mr. Grant said the fire department and the Jamaica Urban Transit Company were on standby to get residents to safety.

 

But, only one person went to the shelter as others, although in difficulty, chose to remain at home and protect their assets. 

 

 

In the meantime, councillor for the Waterford Division, Fenley Douglas, has appealed for regular cleaning of the main drain at the intersection of Passagefort Drive and the Dyke Road.

 

Mr. Douglas said because the drain had not been cleaned of vegetation and debris for the last two years, more than 100 residents of Waterford were affected by flooding on Friday night. 

 

"I'm using this medium to call on the National Works Agency and the member of Parliament, Mr. Robert Miller, to have this drain cleaned. I believe that we are going forward as a people but we are doing it wrongly. We need to start practicing preventative maintenance. We are too reactive as a people, we are too reactive as central government," he contended. 

 

Meanwhile, Arlene Gayle Shaw, a resident of Westmeade, recounted that water came in through the back door of her house.

 

"It was coming out the front as well. It didn't come into the living room but at that time we were scared thinking that it would reach there because the walkway was flooded as well and the block, the entire block was flooded, vehicles were flooded. So it was a scare for everybody, and we have not experienced that in the years that we have been living here," the resident lamented.