Mayor: Dredging harbour could fix Lucea’s flooding problem

Western Bureau:

Lucea Mayor Sheridan Samuels, who is spearheading the call for a national response to the spate of recent floodings in Hanover, believes the dredging of the town’s harbour to address the build-up of silt is key to solving the problem.

According to Samuels, who grew up in Lucea as a child, the regular flooding that is now taking place did not occur in former years; and while acknowledging the role of climate change in the weather pattern, and the fact that the town is below sea level, he believes dredging is at least a part of the answer to the problem.

At present, the town of Lucea has three major waterways – the Riley River, the Kew Bridge and the Venture Gutter – which lead water from inland into the Lucea Harbour. However, because of poor maintenance, they are often clogged with debris and bamboo reeds. The National Works Agency has the responsibility to maintain them.

Initially, they were believed to be the main cause of the flood because they would regularly become overwhelmed by floodwaters during bouts of heavy rains, causing water to overflow their banks and resulting in flooding.

Yet, prior to the most recent rains, all three waterways were extensively cleaned, but there was still flooding as the water that settles in the town took a considerable amount of time to drain off, during which both pedestrian and vehicular traffic were impacted, leading to significant traffic congestion.

“We have done everything we can possibly do in terms of mitigation work, in terms of getting the drains cleaned. We were prepared for Hurricane Beryl, and we were prepared for Hurricane Melissa … . We cleaned all the major drains that we believe would cause flooding in the town. The problem with the town is that the town is below sea level,” said Samuels. “No matter what amount of cleaning we do, it won’t prevent the town from flooding without other means of intervention.”

In relation to his recent call for a national response to address the flooding in Lucea, Samuels said there are various ideas floating around to address the situation, to include relocating the town deeper inland and away from the coastline.

“The call (national response) is more than what we can really manage. There are many thoughts behind it, including moving the town to another location, but we can’t do that to Lucea. Lucea is our pride , I know the situation can be fixed,” said Samuels. “We could get the harbour dredged so that the water can flow easier. I know that can cost a lot of money to do that, but most of the citizens really want to see the harbour dredged.

“As a boy growing up in the town, the situation wasn’t like this. Over time, because of the silt that comes from the rivers into the sea, you find that the harbour gets so shallow that you can even walk half of a kilometre or one kilometre out into the sea, so we realise that the silt is really an issue.”

Economic opportunities

According to Samuels, the call for government support to address the flooding has much merit, as doing so could unlock economic opportunities in the town.

“Calling on the Government to help us through this situation is like we are telling them... come to us, Lucea is good, Lucea can be fixed in terms of the flooding situation. The seawall is crumbling, and we don’t have the resources at the municipal corporation to get these works done. If we can get the money to do the dredging of the harbour, the situation can be resolved.”

Concerning the Lucea Bypass, which would take away much of the traffic between Montego Bay and Negril from the town, Samuels has no issue with it, as he believes it would not impact the plan to develop Lucea into a major attraction for visitors to the island.

“If they follow the strategic plan we have for Lucea … the Lucea Harbour is important to Jamaica, as history will tell you that we have the best natural harbour in Jamaica …. we cherish this harbour; the harbour itself will attract tourists. We have a major hotel, The Grand Palladium, and they are using it to do parasailing. Also, if the harbour is well secured and dredged, tourists will now get an opportunity to go to Fort Charlotte (the town’s premier attraction) as it is overlooking the harbour. With all these activities, it will bring in more foreign exchange – United States dollars,” he said.

editorial@gleanerjm.com