Residents fed up with years of flooding in their community
Published:Wednesday | February 23, 2022 | 4:51 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
Residents living in underdeveloped settlements off the Dunbeholden main road in Portmore, St Catherine, say they are fed up with years of flooding problems with no immediate solutions in sight.
Last week, they complained that after a heavy downpour of rain, the flood water is left settled on the roadway and in the homes of some residents for hours and sometimes days, resulting in them having to evacuate the area and find refuge in the homes of their least-affected neighbours.
Ironically, the name given to one of the streets in the community is Gilbert Avenue, named no doubt after the killer hurricane that devastated Jamaica in 1988.
Residents pointed fingers at Gore Developments Limited for erecting an additional wall, aside from the scheme’s perimeter wall, which was hoisted to enclose the Phoenix Park housing scheme built in 2017.
This additional wall serves as an impediment for the flood water to flow easily into the nearby drainage system.
Melbourne Mattis, a resident in the area, informed The Gleaner that the flood water runs off the main road and down Gilbert Avenue, which he said is a slanted roadway.
BLOCKED BY WALL
This, he continued, causes flood waters to gush down the stretch, which is then blocked by the erected wall.
“It always come down this side,” he said, adding that when that happens, “man haffi move like mad ants!” when the water begins to settle and rise.
Despite three drainage holes in the wall, it has proven to be ineffective in getting the water to run off fast enough.
As such, residents have resorted to taking measures into their own hands by breaking out the wall to make the holes bigger to let the water flow more freely.
“Them put three pipe there fi the water, but it come in like when the water come down it nah work,” Mattis lamented.
However, Israel Pinchas, project manager at Gore Developments, informed The Gleaner on Thursday that he was surprised to hear that residents were complaining about flooding issues.
He said that when the developers first came to the area, they knew of existing flooding concerns, but they were all addressed.
“I know that before we came here, this area was flooded all the time. All of the communities here were getting flooded by any little rain and from the day we came here, we constructed new drains [and] we open drains,” he said.
He added that his team conducts regular inspections of the grounds and he has not been informed that residents have been affected, as once there is an issue, it will be addressed.
Lane Road residents also lamented the condition.
“Every time rain fall the water high pon the road and you nuh have where fi walk,” one resident said.
Shadisha Gordon explained that she has had to source cement blocks to hoist her bed, spearing it from the flood waters that come rushing in.
In addition to this, because her dwelling is made from board, she said that she has to dig a drainage trench that steers flood water away from their homes, so as to prevent further damage to property.
“Is a big dead wall right deh so ... when you go deh so, water bank up,” she explained, pointing to the wall built by Gore Developments.