NWA Undertaking Islandwide Flood Mitigation Programme

Over 250 of the 300 drains and gullies across Jamaica that have been targeted under the National Works Agency’s (NWA) Flood Damage Mitigation Programme have been cleaned.
Communications and Customer Service Manager at the NWA, Stephen Shaw told JIS News in a recent interview that over 90% of the work had been completed and will cost over $70 million to undertake.
He said that cleared drains and gullies would mitigate the effects of possible flood damage, hence the current effort of the Agency. “We want to ensure that these problem areas are clean, to allow for an ease of water flow,” he explained.
According to Mr. Shaw, drain and gully cleaning works in Kingston were done at a cost of over $16 million. He said that drains along Marcus Garvey Drive (East Avenue to Water Street), and Spanish Town Road to Majestic Gardens were cleared, with both being repaired at a cost of some $1.5 million dollars each. Drains cleaned in other sections of Kingston include those running from Hunts Bay to Marcus Garvey Drive, along Half Way Tree and Constant Spring Roads, and the Torrington Road Gully.
Over $6.6 million was also spent to clean drains in the Golden Spring to Mount Airy, Stony Hill to Tom’s River, and Rockfort to Harbour View communities of the Corporate Area.
“This is an island-wide effort,” the NWA Communications Manager stated, pointing out that work on all targeted gullies and drains in Clarendon was completed at a cost of $9.5 million.
“We have also done a significant amount of work in terms of patching some of these (road) corridors (where the drains are located),” he said, pointing out that the project seeks to, not only ensure that the drains are open, but that the roads are in good condition in light of the hurricane season.
Mr. Shaw reported that the residents have lauded the initiatives, noting that “we have had good feedback; people appreciate what we have done.”
He also informed that other maintenance activities were being conducted in Manchester, Westmoreland, sections of St. Catherine, St. Thomas, and Portland under the three-year National Road Servicng Improvement Programme (NARSIP). “It is through the NARSIP (that) we have done quite a bit of mitigation work,” he stated.
The National Road Servicing Improvement Programme is funded by the Government of Jamaica through the Road Maintenance Fund, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).