THE KINGSTON and St. Andrew Corporation will be getting less than the $58 million it says it needs to carry out maintenance on drains and gullies in the Corporate Area of Kingston and St. Andrew.
Errol Greene, the Town Clerk, yesterday said the KSAC would not be getting the amount requested in June but that during a meeting earlier this week, the Government had promised that money would be going toward cleaning and repairing 96 drains and 77 gullies throughout Kingston and St. Andrew.
"We haven't finalised anything yet (but) by early next week we should know how much we will be getting," Mr. Greene told The Gleaner.
He explained that the reason for the cut in the figure requested was that the Government did not have the funds to correct all the problems with drains and gullies islandwide.
"Every parish has a problem with drains and gullies so we have to prioritise," he continued, adding that work would begin "as soon as the funding is in place." The KSAC spends an average of $600,000 a week to maintain drains and gullies in the Corporate Area.
The KSAC has expressed concern at the congested surroundings downtown Kingston, where vendors have taken over the sidewalks and parts of the streets, resulting in traffic jams especially along Princess and Beckford streets.
Mr. Greene told The Gleaner that the KSAC was concerned and was in dialogue with Metropolitan Parks and Markets which, it said, handled the operations of downtown Kingston's designated "market district." However, efforts to contact Ana Treasure, MPM's managing director, proved futile.
