NSWMA clears mouth of MoBay’s South Gully
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Dwight Crawford (centre), deputy mayor of Montego Bay, stresses the importance of keeping the South Gully clear to prevent flooding while Audley Gordon (left), executive director of the National Solid Waste Management Authority, and Shenique Johnson, deputy executive director with responsibility for debris management at the NSWMA, listen keenly.
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The South Gully flows into the Caribbean Sea at the Montego Bay waterfront.
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The South Gully meets the Caribbean – Montego Bay’s waterfront gateway to sea and sky.
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NSWMA crew clearing the mouth of the South Gully in Montego Bay.
WESTERN BUREAU:
A major clean-up operation at the mouth of the South Gully is bringing renewed focus to proper waste disposal and regular drainage maintenance as Montego Bay prepares for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season.
The work is being carried out by the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) under the second phase of a national debris management programme introduced after the destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa.
Heavy equipment and crews were deployed to remove large volumes of garbage, vegetation, and other debris that were washed through the gully system and deposited along sections of the coastline after recent heavy rainfall.
NSWMA Executive Director Audley Gordon said the exercise is critical to ensuring that water can move freely through the gully system during periods of intense rainfall.
“We want to ensure that as we go into the hurricane season, there is free passage under the bridge,” Gordon said while observing the operation on Tuesday. “It is important that this exercise is not a one-off. There must be periodic maintenance of this underpass. Once you don’t keep it clear, there will always be problems when it rains.”
The debris-management programme was launched to address the massive volume of hurricane-related waste generated across several parishes after Hurricane Melissa caused widespread damage to homes, infrastructure, and communities last October.
“This is the last activity in the second phase of our debris-management project,” Gordon said of the South Gully project.
He said the next phase would focus on waste accumulating as residents repair damaged homes.
WASTE FROM RESIDENTS
“People are now throwing out the old zinc that they can’t use, the old boards that they can’t use, because for a while, people were assessing and trying to raise the funds to do their repairs,” he said. “Now that they have started the repairs, we are seeing where they are throwing out other materials because they are realising what can be used and what can’t be used.”
Meanwhile, Montego Bay Deputy Mayor Dwight Crawford said the clean-up operation was both timely and necessary.
“Flooding is a concern, especially after Hurricane Melissa,” Crawford said.
“Persons passing by this morning and seeing the tractor working at the gully mouth are feeling the reassurance that the Government is doing work to mitigate against flooding, which is very important,” he added.
Crawford said that the psychological impact of the recent flooding remains evident in many communities.
“There is still a cloud of worry over Montego Bay whenever the rain falls because the flooding has left some post-trauma,” Crawford.
He added that sustained gully maintenance, improved waste-disposal practices and greater public cooperation would be critical to preventing future flooding and protecting Montego Bay’s coastal environment.
albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com