Gareth Manning, Gleaner Writer
The Palisadoes strip, connecting Port Royal to Harbour View. Photo taken on April 22. - ANDREW SMITH/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERTS in Jamaica have proposed ways to protect and sustain the Palisadoes peninsula, which has been damaged by four hurricanes in the past 12 months.
The specialists were speaking at a forum at the University of the West Indies (UWI) recently, to discuss the protection and preservation of the area.
The Palisadoes peninsula is a narrow strip of land that connects Kingston to Port Royal in the east and the Norman Manley International Airport.
Consultant engineer with the National Environment and Planning Agency, Cowell Lyn, said groynes protecting the Palisadoes need to be repaired.
Groynes are protective walls built perpendicular to the shoreline. They collect sediment carried from rivers to the sea and trap them to help strengthen the peninsula. But the groynes have disintegrated since they were built 50 years ago. As a result, Mr. Lyn says the groynes need to be modified or repaired using the existing patterns of designs to prevent further erosion and encourage more strengthening of the shoreline.
PROTECTIVE ARMOURING
He said the Palisadoes road needed to be raised three metres and protective armouring placed along the way to prevent battering from storm surges.
Professor Edward Robinson, head of the Marine Geology Unit at UWI, painted a grim picture of the future of the Palisadoes. He said sea levels will rise tremendously as the Palisadoes disintegrates. Rising currents have already caused the erosion of several beaches in the area and could lead to more if the peninsula is starved of sediments.
But environmental experts are not alone in their quest to save the Palisadoes, as president of the Airports Authority of Jamaica, Earl Richards, voiced concern for the preservation of the area. He says the strip of land and the adjoining Kingston Harbour are assets of the airport and urgent attention must be given to cleaning and restoring the harbour and protecting the peninsula.
He says while the groynes needed to be repaired, more engineering studies need to be undertaken to introduce new shoreline protection equipment along the most vulnerable areas of this peninsula. He said more grass and other vegetation should be planted in vulnerable areas to weaken the effects of storm surges.
Government pledged near $500 million to strengthen the Palisadoes peninsula last month. Work is yet to commence.
