By Cedric Johnson, Freelance writerWESTERN BUREAU:
THE WESTMORELAND Parish Council has joined several local agencies in calling on government to allocate funds for a comprehensive drain-cleaning programme in the flood prone parish before the rainy season begins.
"We are demanding that government find the necessary resources to clean and maintain the drains before the end of March," said Councillor Earle Brooks, as he addressed last Thursday's meeting of the council. "We must not wait until the last minute because it might be too late then."
Councillor Brooks was supporting a resolution from the parish's disaster planning and management committee, which the Council later adopted. The resolution, which gained the widespread approval of councillors, spelt out in details what the committee wanted to see happen.
"The state of major drains have contributed to extensive flooding within the parish resulting in dislocation and hardship to residents, so we are calling on the government, through its various agencies to seek to undertake the necessary cleaning and clearing of these drains," said the resolution from the disaster planning and management committee. "We are appealing for sufficient funds to be made available to undertake this necessary exercise." Alva Clarke, a representative from the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), told the meeting that a lobby should be started to get government to make available equipment and money for urgent drains cleaning in areas of the parish such as Little London, Grange Hill, Frome, Georges Plain, Petersfield, Negril and Savanna-la-Mar the flood-prone areas.
Joining in the appeal were representatives from the Church, Health department, Western Parks and Markets, National Water Commission (NWC), the Red Cross and other service organisations. Miss Hilma Tate, a parish disaster preparedness co-ordinator who also sits on the committee, said the members have constantly been in search of a solution to the drainage problem in the area.
The plains of Westmoreland, with its numerous large squatter settlements, have been a constant headache to the authorities. During the rainy season, most of these residents have to be evacuated and housed in temporary shelters because these areas are usually flooded.
