THE KINGSTON and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) says that it will be looking into complaints by residents of Wellington Glades in St. Andrew that blasting associated with the development of a housing scheme in the hills above theirs has exposed them to numerous environmental hazards.
They are particularly fearful of loose boulders that have crashed a few feet away from their homes.
Tex Innerarity, the KSAC's city engineer, said he would be contacting the developers, the National Housing Development Corporation (NHDC), as well as visiting the Wellington Heights and Wellington Glades sites today.
Trevor Bernard, chairman of the KSAC's Building and Town Planning Committee, said that the contractors had promised the KSAC that certain conditions would be met and that large rocks would be stacked in a safe place. He said that the committee would await Mr. Innerarity's report before deciding what action will be taken but one option is to issue a deadline for the contractors to remove the boulders.
The NHDC is in a joint venture with Meridian Construction Company to develop 17 acres of land in the hillsides overlooking Wellington Glades under a project which began in 2000.
Residents over the weekend showed reporters huge boulders that have crashed a few feet away from their homes.
They state that the blasting done through the hillside, to create a road leading to the new development, loosened boulders as well as stripped away vegetation which would protect the community from being affected by land slippage and flooding. They are demanding that a retaining wall be constructed between the Glades and the hillside community.
