A section of the main culvert leading through the community. The culvert can no longer handle the large volume of water and land slippage that has become a normal feature during heavy rainfall in the community. The excess mud and debris overflow into the yards of the residents. - photo by Gareth Manning
Nestled in the cool hills of the Blue Mountains, near Maryland, St Andrew, is a small community which has come to learn the value of community spirit and advocacy over the last five years.
Their homes and properties have sustained extensive flood damage due to increased water flow and debris coming from a development taking place in the hills just above them.
Recent hurricanes have channelled an increased flow of water, blocking the existing culvert, destroying the community's only access road, causing major damage to Newcastle Road and destroying the residents' gardens and eroding their properties.
The residents have had to spend millions of dollars repairing the community road and repairing some of the perimeter walls.
Very costly
"It has been very, very costly," says one resident Wayne Gallimore.
Every time it rains heavily, the deluge pummels his yard which is situated at the mouth of the community, dumping mud, stones and blocking the access road, leaving the residents marooned, sometimes for days.
"We have had to fix roads and we have had to get a gabion basket made," he says.
The residents have made rigorous use of the channels available to them. They submitted a signed petition from residents in all the neighbouring communities. They applied for information under the Access to Information Act and lobbied government officials and agencies.
They commissioned an engineering report which they promulgated to other authorities and met with the junior minister of transport and works, Joseph Hibbert, on a couple of other occasions.
"It has been long and hard and frustrating but we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel," Gallimore says. That's because after five years, they are finally seeing some signs that their frustration might soon end.
They have received some assurance from Hibbert that something will be done to fix the the problem soon.
Hibbert told The Gleaner a new and wider culvert will be built for the community that will be better able to handle the large volume of water and debris that is sent gushing down the eroding hillside. He declined to give a start-up date for the project but says the situation will be treated as an emergency.
"The design is already finished and we need to get the contract work going. I am going to get some emergency work done quickly so that we can try to avoid the inclement weather that is upon us," he informed The Gleaner.