Claudine Housen, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
MORE THAN 100 residents in Great Bay, St. Elizabeth, marooned by flood waters, triggered by rains associated with Hurricane Wilma, are now facing worsening food
shortages.
The community has been cut into two
sections by water that has overflowed from the Great Bay Pond, reaching as high as three feet in some sections and navigable only by boat.
Minister of Water and Housing and Member of Parliament for South West St. Elizabeth, Donald Buchanan, told The Gleaner yesterday that the situation was quickly approaching a crisis, due to impassable roadways.
"The people in the community are shattered and are very disturbed by what has happened," Mr. Buchanan said. "There is a certain level of suffering taking place here where they cannot get food in sections of the community."
He said representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security were trying to make their way into the community.
COSTLY BOAT RIDES
One resident, Polly Dileon, told The Gleaner that she could barely afford the cost of boat rides and was concerned for her ailing mother, 74-year-old Ida Dileon, who suffered from high blood pressure.
"She needs some tablets right now to help her pressure because she is very sick and she cannot get to the pharmacy as yet," said Ms. Dileon. "We have to be using a boat and I made two trips on the boat and it cost me $300 since morning. I can't afford it."
With food supplies dwindling, shops in the community are now on the verge of closure and residents are calling for supplies of flour, rice and canned meat.
In another section of the community, some 40 homes were submerged, with their occupants staying with relatives and friends.
"There is more than a mile of continuous flood water from this end of Great Bay (end nearer the beach)," Mr. Buchanan explained. "This water also covers the whole area from Great Bay right back to Treasure Beach, which is also another three or four miles."
