A section of this wall by the side of a gully, which was broken away by heavy flood waters in 2005, has again caused serious flooding. - Norman Grindley

AS PART of our mission to be the People Paper, THE WEEKEND STAR has been highlighting problem areas across the island. Our reporter, Carolyn Johnson, along with photographer Norman Grindley, will focus on a particular area until the problem is fixed. We will then have a rough idea of how long the relevant authorities take to deal with some of the problems affecting our country.

As the hurricane season becomes more intense with the rains more frequent, securing your premises is a major concern. This, however, is an impossible task when you have no back wall and a gully runs behind your home. How do you keep water out?

Lydia Davis and her family in Vineyard Town, Kingston, have been living in fear since 2005 when a large part of the retaining wall of the gully was washed away during heavy rains. With nothing to keep it out, water runs into her yard each time the gully rises, taking with it a lot of debris. Watermarks on her home are testament of her ordeal,

"Friday gone, the heavy rain, the gully come down. My mother so 'fraid when she see the water she tremble," Davis said. She said the matter was reported to the National Works Agency (NWA), her member of Parliament and the councillor for her area. Though many persons have come, looked at the wall and "all tek measurements", nothing has been done. Until then, she lives in fear with each rainy season.