MINISTER PICKERSGILL GIVES UPDATE ON DAMAGE ASSOCIATED WITH HURRICANE CHARLEY

Minister Robert Pickersgill on Friday, August 13 brought the nation up to date on damage associated with the passage of hurricane Charley at a press conference at the Corporate Office of the National Works Agency at 140 Maxfield Avenue.

Preliminary reports from parish managers indicate that approximately 32 road sections in 6 parishes were affected. These were Westmoreland, Trelawny, St. Mary, St. Ann, Manchester and St. Elizabeth. St. Elizabeth bore the brunt of the hurricane with about 12 affected road sections and one fatality. Minister Pickersgill expressed condolences to the family of Mr. Bryan Barrett who died trying to save a family of six in Bigwoods on Wednesday, August 11.

Although it is too early to tell final figures, preliminary estimates for clearing roads only stand at J$7.6M, the bulk of which is to clear roads in St. Elizabeth. This amount is $4.23M. Officers would be going out in the field to conti8nue their data gathering with a view to providing figures concerning the estimate for damage to roads and other infrastructure under the Ministry of Transport and Works.

In addressing the press conference, Minister Pickersgill lauded the NWA for the way in which they handled the problems associated with Hurricane Charley. 'Our road improvement programmes over the last two years have also impacted positively for us…this was put to the test and by the end of Thursday, all the blocked main roads across the island (except for those areas where inundation was evident) were opened to at least single lane traffic, hence the free movement of people, goods and services in a very short time…', the Minister noted.

FLOOD MITIGATION PROGRAMME

The Flood Mitigation Programme has been developed and is being executed by the NWA. The plan involves the cleaning of gullies and drains across the island. This programme is being funded under the $134M budget announced by the Prime Minister in June. Since the first week of July, work has been going on in Westmoreland, St. Thomas, St. Andrew, Clarendon, St. Elizabeth, St. James, St. Ann, St. Mary, Portland, Kingston and St. Catherine. Works now in progress are in various stages of completion from a minimum of 5% to 100%.These include:

• Sommerfield & Jack's Gullies, the RBTT Drain in May Pen, Clarendon - 100% complete
• Desilting of the Bull Park River at 10 Miles Bull Bay - 90% complete
• Seven drains in Grange Hill, Westmoreland - 90% complete
• Balcares in Portland - 90% complete
• Bailey's Vale/ Harmony Hall in St. Mary - 55% complete
• Balaclava Drain in St. Elizabeth - 50% complete
• Havendale Gully - 100% complete, Ackee Walk and Forest Hill Gullies - 100% complete.
• Mico Gully also in Kingtson - 60% complete
• Ocho Rios main drain in St. Ann - 100% complete
• Hartlandsin St. Catherine - 30% complete

Cleaning exercises on ten small gullies and drains in Kingston started last week. These range from Majesty Gardens to Seaview Gardens to Whitfield Town to Foreshaw Road to Hagley Park Road between Waltham Park Road and the Three Miles Roundabout to Marcus Garvey Drive to Jew Gully to the Gully by the AMC Marketon Spanish Town Road and sections of the Constant Spring Gully.

The mitigation programme targets critical flood prone areas where hundreds and thousands of people are affected year after year when there is heavy rainfall and works done recently have greatly minimized flooding in various areas.

In terms of work to come on stream, tenders for five parishes have been advertised under the Inter-American Development Fund National Road Services Improvement Programme (NARSIP). These programmes are expected to begin by December of this year. It is interesting to note that Jamaica is the first country that the bank is supporting a routine maintenance programme and this is testimony to the premium placed on doing business in Jamaica. The mitigation efforts of the NWA in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and Works will continue throughout and if needs be, beyond the hurricane season.