Funds allocated for Sandy Gully cleaning this year, says Samuda
THE PRESENCE of piles of debris and trees growing in the Sandy Gully in the vicinity of Riverton City, which poses “a clear and present danger” to residents in the area, are expected to be cleaned this year. This follows years of impassioned pleas from Member of Parliament for St Andrew Western Anthony Hylton.
At Wednesday’s Standing Finance Committee of Parliament, where members of the Lower House examined the Estimates of Expenditure and other Budget documents, Hylton again highlighted the plight of residents who live near the gully.
He warned that the heavy rains in December breached the walls and floor of the gully, noting that it was in a deplorable condition.
According to Hylton, the state of Sandy Gully was a threat to infrastructure, businesses, and life in his constituency.
“The bridge that crosses Sandy Gully in the last rain in December was cresting just a feet below that bridge,” he said.
The Opposition MP said the failure to clean the gully has resulted in the area developing into “an island where people can build houses in Sandy Gully”.
Hylton warned that “we are playing with something very serious”.
However, Minister Without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Matthew Samuda, said that money was allocated in this year’s Budget to clean that section of Sandy Gully.
Hylton also highlighted that for decades, the Duhaney River has not been desilted, creating what he called a flood zone in a large section of western St Andrew.
He said that the Marcus Garvey area, the Port of Kingston, and Tinson Pen are also part of the flood zone.
“That’s an entire area that has to be addressed otherwise very soon, we are going to have cause to be concerned and to be regretting that we did nothing while we had the opportunity.”
But Samuda said that while the Duhaney River was cause for concern, no allocation was made in this year’s Budget to address desilting.
In relation to Marcus Garvey Drive, Samuda said that the Jamaica Systemic Risk Assessment had identified the area as a climate risk to the Government.
“It is something that we are very clear on, but it is not in this year’s Budget,” he said.
Meanwhile, some opposition MPs wanted to know when they would receive the proposed official correspondence from the Government on the rollout of the $40-billion Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network (SPARK) programme.
Samuda told MPs that the correspondence would be sent to MPs in a matter of days.
MPs also wanted to know why the allocation for the SPARK programme was not in the 2024-2025 Budget.
In response, Samuda said: “The SPARK programme is currently going through the PIAB (Public Investment Appraisal Branch) process. We all know the time associated with the procurement and getting on the projects list.”
He said it was going through that process now, and as such, would not be in the Estimates of Expenditure.
The SPARK programme is aimed at modernising secondary, parochial, and community roads over the next two years.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness had set a March 31 deadline for MPs to consult with their constituents regarding the roads to be rehabilitated under the programme.