Claudine Housen, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE CLEARING of lands for real estate development and inadequate drainage systems have been cited by engineers as the primary causes for the recent flooding which affected resort properties along the Rose Hall tourism corridor in Montego Bay, St. James.
Two weeks ago, waterlogged roads caused a pile-up of traffic along the Rose Hall main road, while the Ritz-Carlton and Half Moon hotels incurred damage caused by mud and flood waters. In the aftermath of the torrential rains, the Ritz-Carlton temporarily closed its doors and flew in a crew of engineers from abroad to assess the damage. It was the second time in three years that the 420-room resort had been adversely affected by flooding.
"We are pretty sure of the fact that the culverts under the road were overwhelmed with debris," said Peter Wilson-Kelly, a representative of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA). "They (culverts) blocked up and the roadways were flooded, hence Ritz-Carlton and a couple of other hotels were affected by flooding."
While the blockage of the drains may be the most immediate reason for flooding in the area, Mr. Kelly suggested that the development of the Rose Hall area has robbed the hillside of much-needed trees which help to mitigate erosion.
"The problem with that particular area stretching from Wyndham Rose Hall going back to the Half Moon side is that over the years there has been a fair amount of clearing of the vegetation," the NEPA official told The Gleaner. "When you chop out all that vegetation you no longer have the roots to hold (the soil together) or the sponge effect to protect the ground from the impact of the water, (hence) more water runs over the surface of the ground into the drainage channels (causing) more erosion and mud being carried down."
However, according to engineer Arthur Nelson, the major problem is not the slippage of the land but the obstruction of natural waterways in favour of real estate development.
HUGE WALL
"Gradually you have had the expansion of the Half Moon hotel, then the Ritz-Carlton and now there is a huge wall out at the in-bond shop (the site of Shoppes of Rose Hall). As a matter of fact there is evidence that the wall was preventing the natural flow of water because the wall broke away (during the recent flooding)," Mr. Nelson noted. "The basic thing seems to be inadequate provision for the water from the watershed in the hills," added the former Member of Parliament for West Central St. James.
Shoppes of Rose Hall is a 77,000 square foot duty-free shopping mall, designed to boost the tourism trade by offering visitors a First World shopping experience.
While not denying that the drains were probably blocked during the April 27 floods, Stephen Shaw, community relations officer at the National Works Agency (NWA) in Montego Bay, said the drains were not the major factor.
"It was the silt and garbage from the hilly areas that came down and caused the problems that we experienced," said Mr. Shaw. "When we build our drains we build (them) to carry water and maybe a small amount of silt. You cannot build a drain to carry the (quantity) of silt and garbage that we saw on that particular day."
He said the NWA has a routine maintenance programme that looks at the cleaning of drains every quarter; however, he was unable to say when the drains were last cleaned prior to the floods.
