NWA Clearing Blocked Roads

The National Works Agency (NWA) has mobilised work teams to clear roads that have been blocked due to fallen rocks and landslides from the recent heavy rains.

Manager, Communication and Customer Services, Stephen Shaw, said the agency is mindful of the challenges that persons are experiencing at this time and will be working to bring normalcy to the areas as soon as possible.

“We give the commitment that we are going to be there, and we are not going to be coming out of the area until every single landslide, every boulder that is there impacting the movement of persons, is addressed,” he said.

He was speaking during a tour of sections of the East Rural St. Andrew constituency on Saturday (Nov.18) to assess the damage from the rainfall.

Mr. Shaw said the area between St. Thomas and St. Andrew has been “significantly impacted”.

“Generally, though, we have challenges not just in St. Andrew. We have challenges in St. Thomas, we have had some in Portland as well but between St. Andrew and St. Thomas is really where we have had the bulk of the issues.

“In the Bath area, there is the Plantain Garden River that swelled, and it has damaged sections of the embankment and so there are persons in Bachelor’s Hall who are now threatened. There are persons in the Bath area who are threatened because the protective work that was done there years ago, would have collapsed under the pressure of the raging storm water flows. We have some landslides along the Bath to Bath Fountain Road, we have some issues in Western St. Thomas as well that we will have to address,” he outlined.

In East Rural St. Andrew, where about 30 landslides have been reported, Member of Parliament, the Most Hon. Juliet Holness, said that a multiagency approach will need to be undertaken to return the area to normality.

“We have had significant landslides right across the Mavis Bank division and the Gordon Town division and to a lesser extent Kintyre, and flooding in the Bull Bay division,” she reported.

She said sections of the constituency remain impassable. “We have been able, at least, to have equipment to start the process of clearing, in some cases, half of the roadway, so that vehicular traffic can move.

“We hope residents will be patient and appreciate that the volume and magnitude of the landslides is like we have never seen before. So, please be patient as we get all hands-on deck, all the agencies involved and ready to have our constituency back to normal in the shortest possible time,” she said.

Meanwhile, Non-Revenue Water and Water Supply Manager, National Water Commission (NWC), Chadron Stern, said the agency is in full disaster response mode, noting that assessments are being done to identify damage to supply systems.

“We have mobilised equipment all across the country… to help us to bring back our pipelines and infrastructure in ready order. So far, we have not had much damage, although we are still assessing. Some of the damage we incurred so far, some have been repaired,” he indicated.

Mr. Stern explained that high turbidity is being experienced from surface water facilities and urged patience and understanding as the Commission works on restoring normality. He said that service is gradually being restored to pipelines in areas that experienced a disruption in service.

Acting Director General, ODPEM, Richard Thompson, for his part, urged Jamaicans to continue to exercise caution in areas that are prone to landslides and flooding.