Ross Sheil, Staff Reporter
Dobson Cole points to a section of his yard which was washed away when Hurricane Wilma caused massive flooding in Rivoli, Spanish Town, on Tuesday. - RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
AN ENGORGED gully swallowed the land of residents of Rivoli in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, this week.
The Redwood Gully, which runs from Dam Head to Higher St. Catherine, was swollen by the rains associated with Hurricane Wilma.
On Tuesday, residents blamed the long-term failure of authorities to clean the gully and shore up its banks.
"They have cleaned it only once since I moved here in 1997 and that was August 1997!" said an irate Kent Street resident, Paulette Holness. She estimated that, since Sunday, three quarters of her yard had fallen into the gully. "Something needs to be done!"
Dobson Cole's house, 100 feet downstream, had also suffered, losing fencing and leaving his home just several feet from the edge.
"The whole of my land gone here sah," said Mr. Cole, pointing to parts of his home lying on the encroaching riverbank.
"Every time it rains, it gets worse. It is a stream that has become a river," he said, pointing to a section of the gully now 50 feet wide. He said that section had previously been just five feet wide.
Member of Parliament for South Central St. Catherine, Sharon Hay-Webster, said she was aware of residents' concerns and had been in dialogue with Robert Pickersgill, the Minister of Transport and Works.
