Living on edge - Residents near neglected Sandy Gully fear flooding as hurricane season peaks

As the busiest stretch of the hurricane season approaches, some residents living near the banks of Sandy Gully are worried that floodwaters could rise rapidly and destroy their homes because of the large amount of debris, displaced surfaces, and collapsing walls along the waterway.

Sandy Gully is the largest conduit for carrying stormwater to the sea in the Corporate Area.

The Gleaner yesterday visited two communities along the waterway where residents are increasingly anxious about the condition of the gully and the potential threat of flooding.

Many are sitting on proverbial pins and needles, praying that Jamaica is spared a significant weather event during this hurricane season.

A cursory glance at Sandy Gully in the vicinity of Riverton City, near the Spanish Town Road bridge, reveals a shocking overgrowth of trees and a buildup of debris that appear to pose a serious threat to the free flow of water, particularly during periods of heavy rainfall.

Days before Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica in October last year, the National Works Agency carried out works to clear, desilt, and remove trees from sections of the Sandy Gully in the vicinity of Weymouth Drive and Riverton City.

But some residents told The Gleaner that the work was woefully inadequate to tackle the large volume of debris and the miniforest in the gully.

A significant area of concern is near the back of Waterhouse. Residents showed The Gleaner a section of the gully where water has damaged its walls and undermined a house that remains at risk of heavy flooding.

Diana Brown, a resident whose house suffered damage from floodwaters from the gully a few years ago, complained to The Gleaner that despite appeals to St Andrew Western Member of Parliament Anthony Hylton and Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, who, reportedly, visited the area after Hurricane Melissa, no work has been done to fix the compromised walls of the gully.

A section of the concrete gully bed close to several houses is severely compromised, and residents say that the walls on both sides have been breached by floodwaters.

“Andrew Holness come and look inna di gully. Him come yah with a whole bag a man and police, and Hurricane Melissa, and see it deh,” Brown said.

She accused Hylton of showing up only during election time, noting that he has not surfaced for some time now.

SLOW RESPONSE FROM AUTHORITIES

Resident Delroy Anthony Blake was agitated by the nonchalant response from the authorities, charging that they had very little regard for the people who lived in the area.

National Works Agency Communications Manager Stephen Shaw told The Gleaner that while there are plans to clean the entire length of Sandy Gully, it requires significant capital input.

He indicated that the magnitude of the work falls squarely within the remit of the newly established National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority, which has the mandate to fast-track significant projects in the public sector.

However, Shaw cautioned that residents who live close to gullies are, obviously, at risk as those areas were not intended for people to reside.

Meanwhile, Sheresha ‘Mama Justice’ Hemmings, who lives close to Sandy Gully at the lower end of West Bay Farm Road, complained bitterly on Tuesday about a pile-up of scrap metal around her house and close to the gully.

Discarded old fridges, stoves, and other appliances and metals are stacked around a section of her house and also fall into the gully, causing blockage.

Hemmings said she has reported the matter to the member of parliament and has sought assistance from the National Solid Waste Management Authority to remove the scrap metal, but to date, nothing has been done to address her concerns.

She told The Gleaner that the scrap metal was placed there by a man who disregarded her protestations.

Attempts by The Gleaner to reach Hylton for comment were unsuccessful.

edmond.campbell@gleanerjm.com