Labour Ministry conducting damage assessment in Portland

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is conducting assessment in Portland to determine the extent of the damage in the parish from last Friday’s (Dec. 17) heavy rains.
Acting Parish Manager, Maxwell Hamilton, told JIS News that a special team from his office has been dispatched to the affected areas.
He informed that assistance was being provided for occupants of a house in the Windsor Castle community that was destroyed due to a landslide.
Mr. Hamilton said that once the process of assessment is completed, the report will be forwarded to the Ministry’s central office in Kingston for a decision on what follow-up actions if any, should be taken.
The rains, which resulted from a frontal system affecting the island, caused flooding and landslide in a number of areas of the parish, leaving several roads inundated and many homes flooded out.
Portland’s Disaster Coordinator, Denise Lewis, told JIS News that the road blockages were confined to the Windsor Castle/Hart Hill and Buff Bay communities of the parish.
She said that all affected roadways have been cleared by the National Works Agency (NWA) to accommodate regular traffic flow.
She informed that no emergency shelters were opened although adequate preparation was in place to do so if required.