Damion Mitchell, News Coordinator - Radio

Blossom Williams (left) and Lincent Johnson overlook a large section of Mrs. Williams' backyard that has been torn away. - photos by Andrew Smith/Photography Editor

It's mid-afternoon in Kintyre, St. Andrew, on Thurs-day and dark clouds hang ominously overhead.

Each raindrop creates a mountain of worry for the residents of the hillside district of Camp View and surrounding communities. They have been literally living on the edge since a massive slow-moving landslide started there about a month ago.

Data from the Mines and Geology Division of the Ministry of Energy indicate that the landslide is about 200 metres long and 80 metres wide. In its path are houses, other residential properties and a few small farms. Already four houses have been destroyed and at least 12 others are under immediate threat.

"This is a big one," said Norman Harris, the director of the Research and Mapping Unit at the Mines and Geology Department. "Houses are cracking up and getting worse as the days go by. Those that are not yet affected will be affected in the near future."

Living nightmare

This is what's causing Lincent Johnson, 68, to be having sleepless nights. The landslide is now eating away at the foundation of his 13-room house. He is no longer able to use the front entrance because his stairs have been ripped away by the disaster and he has to hopscotch several cracks in the ground to reach the back door.

In front of his house, the main road is another telling sign of the magnitude of the disaster. A large section has been torn away and residents have to use makeshift bridges to cross from one side to the other. Those who drive have to park their cars at the nearest point and walk home, while those who are not agile have to be lifted across.

The recent weeks-long heavy rains triggered the landslide. Johnson said it was exactly 2:15 one morning when he heard a section of his retaining walls collapse.

"Since then, every single shower of rain mi hear mi start to fret," he said.

He says it's only a matter of time before his hard-earned investment slips away. "It was hard in those days, I was working $8 a day as an A1 mason in 1974 to get money to build my house. Now it looks like everything will go."

Across the road from Johnson is another distressed resident, Eleanor Shorter. The landslide has already shifted her fruit trees, torn away a significant portion of her backyard and left cracks in her house.

"If we get one more shower of rain, the whole thing will tear down," she said.

Premises collapsing

Youths make their way along the damaged Camp Road in Kintyre.

Her immediate neighbour is in an even worse predicament. A section of his driveway has collapsed, trapping a car in the yard and the house has started to disintegrate.

The Mines and Geology Department reported that several people have already had to move out of the community and the entire area may have to be evacuated given the magnitude of the landslide.

Aston Mothersill, 82, has lived in Kintyre for decades. Everyone knows him as the trusted bee farmer. He is grateful that he has survived a recent stroke. But besides that, nothing is sweet.

"It nuh pretty," he said as he walked towards the news team on a makeshift crutch.

His bees have not been producing since the heavy rains damaged their 'feeding trees'. And there are now huge cracks in his house, which is also showing signs of disintegration. Mothersill wants the disaster officials to look keenly at relocating the residents because the situation has reached catastrophic proportions.

Around the corner from Mother-sill is another resident, Blossom Williams. The landslide has already torn away the washroom, the bathroom, the kitchen and two bedrooms from her house, forcing her daughter and four grandchildren to relocate.

In the meantime, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) is exploring several options to address the situation in Kintyre. The Deputy Director General of the ODPEM, Cecil Bailey, says his office is working with the Mines and Geology Department to iden-tify where mitigation work should be considered and where relocation must be undertaken.

Johnson