News

Deliver us from river and rain - Residents beg for repairs to wall which protects community from river

By KAVELLE ANGLIN-CHRISTIE, Staff Reporter

( left ) Fitzroy Johnson shows the damage done to his belongings as a result of flood waters during Hurricane Emily. ( right ) A toilet bowl and tank are the only reminder that there was a house at this location after the wooden structure was washed away by flood waters in Seaforth, St. Thomas during Hurricane Emily. - ian allen photos

THE RESIDENTS OF Seaforth, St. Thomas, have been pleading for the authorities to fix the wall protecting their community from the river for more than two years. No one heard their cry until their community was almost destroyed when the river tore away the wall during the recent hurricanes.

An elderly resident, Fitzroy Johnson, said during Hurricane Emily, he and his wife were caught off guard when their house was flooded. He lives at least half a mile from the river. "It was about after four in the morning and I sent my wife to go and boil some water for me. When she open the room door, I only hear her scream and the water rushed in on us."

Johnson, 69, said he and his wife were trapped in the chest-high water and couldn't escape. "All we could do is pray for deliverance."

They were rescued by the fire brigade, after his wife's son, who lives in the United States called them, then called the brigade. Johnson has lived in the area since 1986, and as a result of the flooding, which was never a serious issue, he and his wife lost most of their possessions.

His neighbour, Malvia Gordon and her family were more fortunate. They went to a shelter but when they returned the next day, they found most of their possessions under water. Several houses were swept away.

Some distance away, a farmer, Selvin McQueen, lost most of his produce to the flood.

The residents say when they asked the authorities for help, they were told the river was not a threat to the community. But Ronald Carter, a former superintendent at the National Works Agency, (NWA), St. Thomas parish office, denied that the residents were ever told this. "I took up that post in 2001, and the wall was damaged before that. What we did was we started to train the river, because it had to be trained before the wall was mended."

Mayor of Morant Bay, Joan Spencer, says for the past two years she has been in dialogue with State Minister in the Ministry of Transport and Works and MP for East St. Thomas, Fenton Ferguson, to fix the problem, but nothing has been done.

Held demonstrations

Spencer says they even held a demonstration last June. "When I realised that I wasn't getting any help from the parish council, I called a demonstration at the bridge. When I arrived there, the residents were already there and a number of police from the Seaforth and Morant Bay police stations," she said, adding that she was accused of inciting violence and arrested. "They told me that I was under arrest, so I said 'no problem' and I told my driver to take me to the police station. Now look at what has happened."

Ferguson confirmed that Spencer had spoken to him about the issue on previous occasions, however, because of financial constraints, the work had not been done. "I admit that she did approach me on several occasions about it, but making representation by just speaking of something doesn't mean it will happen immediately ... That does not make the resources available."

He said even with the wall in tact, the river would have overflowed its banks, but the absence of the wall, only exasperated the problem." He said work is now being done on the wall and the river.