Yahneake Sterling, Staff Reporter
SEVERAL PARISH Disaster Committees are arguing that the National Works Agency (NWA), has been lagging in its preparations for the hurricane season, under the Disaster Mitigation Programme.
According to Milton Brown, Mayor of May Pen, the failure of the NWA to maintain drains in the parish, is putting the lives and property of the citizens at risk.
"Nowhere, in the country are they doing what they are supposed to do," stated Mr. Brown. "I think that it needs to be looked at, I suggest that the Government allocate the money to the local authorities or to the NWA local or regional offices with a mandate get the work done."
Meanwhile, in the western parish of St. Elizabeth, Yvonne Morrison, parish disaster coordinator, has stated that while the Parish Council and the National Irrigation Commission (NIC) have been doing their part to prepare the parish for pending disasters, the NWA has not been doing so.
"We are having problems with the NWA as they are not cleaning drains as they should and we have not been getting any response from them," she said.
Likewise in the east, Morant Bay Mayor Joan Spencer said no drain cleaning or river training work has been started on the part of the NWA.
"We are in a serious problem if they don't start to even put equipment in to get rid of the sand in the rivers because the rivers and the land are on the same level," she said, making reference to the Johnson's river and Yallahs ford.
CLAIMS REJECTED
However Stephen Shaw, communications manager at the NWA, rejected the claims by the Parish Councils.
"We have done more than $120 million worth of mitigation work between July last year and March of this year across the country," he said.
While admitting that the NWA is five to six weeks behind schedule regarding mitigation work, Mr. Shaw was confident the works agency would catch up as it was intensifying its activities over the next two weeks.
