Claudine Housen, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
AS A surface trough continues to buffet the island, hotel interests along the Rose Hall tourism corridor have reiterated fears of possible flooding in that area.
The commercial tourism interests are reportedly peeved that the National Works Agency (NWA) has no immediate plans to expand the drainage system that serves the area, despite major infrastructural damage incurred during a recent flood.
"Nothing major can be done at this time, because we expect to undergo major work when section one of segment two of the North Coast Highway
project gets under way in the last quarter of 2005," said Stephen Shaw, community relations officer for the NWA in Montego Bay.
Segment two of the North Coast Highway runs from Montego Bay, St. James to Greenside/Bougate in Falmouth, Trelawny.
Until then, Mr. Shaw said the NWA will continue to monitor and clean the drains along the corridor strictly "on a needs basis".
TASK FORCE ESTABLISHED
A well-placed source told The Gleaner that a task force had been set up to review the circumstances surrounding the April 27 flood and that the subsequent findings and recommendations had been sent to the Ministry of Land and Environment.
"The recommendations were done with short, medium and long-term objectives," the source said. "The task force also attached a dollar figure where possible."
Task force chairman, Cecil Bailey, confirmed the submission of the recommendations but declined to comment on the details of the document.
"We actually sent off the report to the minister around the 27th of May, but I cannot speak to the specific recommendations," Mr. Bailey said.
The recent flood rains caused major infra-structural damage to the Rose Hall area, impacting on the high-end Ritz Carlton and Half Moon hotels, both of which are located on the Rose Hall main road. This is the major thoroughfare road connecting the resort towns of Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. Both hotels were flooded and were forced to relocate guests.
While the Half Moon Hotel has returned to full operation, the Ritz Carlton, which received major damage to its lower floors, has been closed since the incident. Operations should resume on July 1.
