![The Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) is to develop a landslide awareness programme in high-risk areas.
The undertaking will be done in partnership with the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) and Mines and Geology.
The development of the programme will follow on the heels of a collaborative study on slope instabilities with the University of Chester, Mines and Geology, and ODPEM.
This was stated by Mayor of Kingston, Senator Councillor Delroy Williams, during his contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate on January 14.
Mr. Williams informed that the slope instabilities study will provide progress reports and research outputs to the KSAMC, to inform land use planning and policy development.
He noted that this is critical, as large sections of the municipality are impacted by landslides. Areas include sections of Shooters Hill in Eastern St. Andrew and St. Thomas.
Mr. Williams said that key progress, so far, includes undertaking of the most detailed geotechnical assessment of soils and rocks for sections of St. Andrew and St. Thomas to be used for land use/spatial planning; and developing slope instability risk maps to aid land-use planning and guidelines for appropriate structures if applicable.
He noted, too, that more detailed geotechnical investigations beyond the immediate active landslide in Shooters Hill have been completed to inform land-use planning and zonation.
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Mayor Williams added that further landslide susceptibility mapping has been done for the Kingston Metropolitan Area that indicates a number of areas with a high probability of failure, provided there are triggers from heavy rainfall and/or earthquake.
He added as well that maps, imagery and databases created as part of the project area are available to the KSAMC for use.
“Buildings in areas which are prone to landslides need to be designed and constructed with suitable disaster mitigating features. In addition, the sustainability of such structures and their impacts on the environment also demand due consideration. Land zonation and development of areas need to take into consideration the susceptibility to slope failure.
“This is the position of the KSAMC; further development is restricted in these areas. Where developments are deemed important, detailed geotechnical investigation needs to be undertaken before, stabilisation measures [must be] implemented on and around the proposed development, residual risk analysis undertaken to ensure it is not transferred to adjacent areas, adhering to building codes, particularly in the design of foundations and structures highly resistant to movement,” he stated.
The Mayor indicated that the long-term actions to be taken include policy directive as to the handling of new developments in the Shooters Hill area, integration of the collective data in the building and planning process, detailed cost benefit analysis of long-term stability of slopes in the area, and more detail geotechnical investigation to provide more comprehensive information to determine the best approach to mitigate landslides.](https://jis.gov.jm/wp-content/cache/thumbnails/2022/01/RAF-3-325x220-c.jpg?v=1642267272)
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