Our drains need cleaning, too
St James residents want more focus on drain cleaning in rural areas
WESTERN BUREAU:
RESIDENTS IN some rural St James communities want more drain cleaning to be done in their areas, even amid the parish’s general level of preparedness for the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season.
Lena Bullock, a resident of Adelphi, wants the parish’s disaster management teams to focus more on drain cleaning in rural communities like hers, instead of focusing exclusively on drains in and around Montego Bay.
“I haven’t seen any drain-cleaning work being done in my area. I think the best thing to do is to put more focus on the rural areas, and not only in the town and city areas,” Bullock told The Gleaner.
Nikiesha Reid, who lives in the Eden Vale community, said that although the few drains in her area were built, and are presently maintained, by residents, she believes the authorities should have a hand in their cleaning.
“In my area, we really don’t have a lot of drains. Those that are there are makeshift drains, and people make and clean them. They aren’t official drains that the Government installed, so as far as them doing the cleaning, I don’t know about that, although they should,” said Reid.
OFTEN CLOGGED
Garette Brown, a resident of the neighbouring Goodwill community, said the drains in his area often get clogged whenever it rains.
“Our drains are not adequately maintained, and during normal rainfall the roads are flooded because stones and other debris are clogging the drains. In some instances, grass and shrubs cover the drains,” Brown complained.
Tamoy Sinclair, the St James Municipal Corporation’s parish disaster coordinator, told The Gleaner that disaster readiness is at the forefront of the parish’s ongoing drain-cleaning exercises, to include a focus on the North and South Gullies in downtown Montego Bay.
“We have our Roads and Works Department here at the municipal corporation, who ensure that the North and South Gullies and other gullies within the town, and even outside the city, are being cleaned. We’re in a heightened state of preparedness, and we’re conscious about coming into this hurricane season, in light of the current COVID-19 crisis, so we want to ensure that we dot our ‘I’s and cross our ‘T’s,” said Sinclair.