St. Catherine Parish Council Assessing Road Damage

The St. Catherine Parish Council should by today (Sept. 20), have completed a detailed assessment of damage done to roads in the parish as a result of Hurricane Ivan for submission to the Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Sport.
Superintendent of Roads and Works at the Parish Council, Franklyn Binns, told JIS News, that the assessment would also entail an estimate of the cost for temporary restoration and the total cost for rehabilitation of the damaged roadways.
Giving an update on the state of the roads, Mr. Binns informed that the Sligoville road, the alternative road used by motorists when the Rio Cobre gorge was blocked, was still impassable because of damage to a retaining wall in the area. Additionally, he said that a section of the Barry road was also closed due to flooding. “What we are doing now is ensuring that all blocked roads are cleared, even if it is single lane traffic, and the objective is to have all blocked roads opened as much as possible,” he told JIS News.
He said the Council and the National Works Agency (NWA) had cleared some 102 blocked roads throughout the parish. He noted that a few blockages still existed in several districts, including Ginger Ridge, Mount Industry, Lluidas Vale, Troja, Big Pond and Point Hill but these were being cleared.
Meanwhile, Mr. Binns informed that refurbishing work, estimated to cost some $350,000, was now in progress at the Council to repair damage to the roof and supporting infrastructure.
The repair work, which began last Monday (Sept.13), is being carried out by a private contractor.Mr. Binns said that employees were not displaced by the roof damage, since an emergency covering was put on. “So we are back in shape and if it rains, we should not be affected,’ he pointed out.
He noted further that the water that came in after the roof blew off did not cause much damage, as equipment and documents were properly secured prior to the hurricane.