$76-million repair bill for flood-ravaged St James
WESTERN BUREAU — Heavy rains that lashed sections of the island at the end of last month has left St James with a $76.2-million road repair bill.
Meanwhile, the parish council has asked the local government ministry to immediately allocate $10-million of the amount to begin rehabilitation work in the worst affected areas.
The request was made, in a February 3 letter written by the parish’s superintendent of roads and works Tubal Brown. The letter was submitted to Christopher Powell, secretary/manager of the council.
“While I appreciate the fact that the ministry may not have all the funds at its disposal to carry out the rehabilitative works at this time, I wish to recommend the release of an allocation of $10-million to effect single-lane traffic as well as to provide a means of enabling the persons who are marooned, to connect to society,” Brown said in the letter.
Money is needed for the:
* purchase of macadam and other road materials to effect repairs;
* purchase of chlorine and other disinfectants, cleaning and repairing of tombs;
* cleaning of drainage systems;
* removal of debris to disposal sites; and
* rehabilitation of road surfaces.
The expectation is that a portion of the $10 million will go towards effecting repair works inside Paisley and Bottom Paisley in the east central area of the parish, where the damage has been put at some $20 million. The nature of work to be undertaken there, the letter said, includes:
* resurfacing of the roadway;
* construction of retentive structures;
* construction of a U drain; and
* groyne works.
Other areas that were hard-hit include Flanker, Sunderland/Burnt Ground and Tucker/Irwin, where repair works are expected to cost $1 million each.
But the damage caused by the recent heavy rains extended beyond roads.
“Our minor water supply systems were also affected, particularly in the vicinity of scarred catchment areas at our rain water catchment tanks,” Brown said in the letter.
The heavy rains have left the water supply murky in some affected areas, which will mean that the authorities will have to increase the chlorine levels.
“Extreme turbidity, which gives rise to the application of a higher dosage of chlorine and other means of disinfection, the heavily silted entombments as well as the broken distribution mains which must be restored,” the superintendent said.
A handful of people also incurred property losses as a result of the recent rains.
A number of farmers in Adelphi/Content, for example, lost poultry and livestock with one woman losing $40,000 worth of chickens.
At Tucker, 63-year-old Icilda Morgan was flooded out when the gully adjacent to her home overflowed. The rising waters left her ground floor apartment filled with silt and other debris, she lost a perspective tenant and is, even now, lamenting the debris-filled gully that runs through her community.