By Monique Hepburn, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson has warned residents of St. Elizabeth stop building houses in flood-prone areas and said they should view the damages caused by Hurricane Charley as a lesson to guide the future construction of dwellings.
"Nature has no respect for where houses are built or where roads are constructed," said Mr. Patterson on Monday, during a tour of the southern parish, where the hurricane left behind $180 million in infrastructural and agricultural damage. "If we put houses where the water should flow, it is the houses that are going to be damaged because the water is going to find a way of passing through."
Several communities across St. Elizabeth were flooded during the passage of the hurricane with Bigwoods, were one man (Bryan Barrett) drowned and several persons were left stranded on their roofs, being the hardest hit.
The Government has since mandated its relief and technical agencies to start rehabilitation work to address the damage to farms, roads and dwellings. The Big-woods Basic School, which took a battering, will be temporarily relocated for the new school term in September.
BE MINDFUL OF PLANNING
This (the hurricane) is a useful opportunity and a reminder for us to be mindful of planning where we put what and certainly that we don't block the drains and build houses where gullies have existed over time," said Mr. Patterson.
Donald Buchanan, Member of Parliament for South West St. Elizabeth, told The Gleaner during the tour that from a $20 million allocation, grants have been disbursed to farmers in three south-western parishes: $1m for Manchester, $2m for St. Elizabeth and $1m for Westmoreland. The funds allocated will assist in the purchase of seeds, poultry and livestock.
"We are focusing our attention on the medium and long-tern restoration of agricultural production to ensure that farmers are put in a position to start planting again," Mr. Buchanan said.
Other activities now under way in St. Elizabeth include the clearing and repairing of damaged roads, which will be undertaken in a four-week repair schedule by the National Works Agency (NWA). The cost of clearing blocked roads is estimated at $15m, which has already been allocated.
Regular water supply has been restored in St. Elizabeth except for the community of Houndslow, which had a submerged pump. The pump according to Mr. Buchanan will be repaired by the end of the week.
