Westmoreland prepared for hurricane season - Mayor

Karrie Williams, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:Mayor of Savanna-la-Mar and Chairman of the Westmoreland Parish Council Bertel Moore, says the parish is in a state of readiness to deal with disasters which may arise during this hurricane season.

Moore said drains were being routinely cleaned mainly through funding provided by the parochial revenue fund. He said preference was given to those drains located in known flood-prone areas.

"On a monthly basis, we conduct drain cleaning throughout the parish," he said. "By all accounts, however, the parochial revenue fund has never really been sufficient to provide adequate financing for drain cleaning."

Moore identified the communities of McNeil-land in Bayroad, Ricketts River in Frome, and sections of Little London and Grange Hill as major flood-prone areas which were of grave concern. He said residents had a role to play in maintaining the cleanliness of drains, and so should desist from dumping their garbage in those areas as this resulted in blockage which could worsen the impact of a natural disaster.

FUTILE EFFORTS

But watch commander of the Savanna-la-Mar Fire Brigade, Assistant Superintendent Dave Goldburn, said while some drains had been cleaned, based on what had happened in the past, the efforts might be futile.

"The main problem is that when the drains are being cleaned, the debris is not immediately taken away. Instead, it is left by the side of the road where motor vehicles are allowed to run over it and eventually it makes its way straight back into the drains," he said.

As far as hurricane shelters are concerned, reports from the parish council are that of the 85 designated hurricane shelters in the parish, 55 were inspected by the Westmoreland Health Department to ensure they were of acceptable standard and have been deemed ready.

Moore said the council's Emergency Operations Centre was also in a satisfactory state of preparedness. He said members of the municipal authority's disaster committee, which includes the Jamaica Public Service, the National Works Agency, the Jamaica Red Cross, Salvation Army, and representatives from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security had already convened a meeting.

"The council has some amount of canned-food items, water, and clothing in storage which were donated for disaster impact victims," he said. "We discussed various plans of action in case there should be a hurricane or other disaster. We focused on areas such as transportation and communication.

"Already, we have identified buses, which we will use to transport persons, and we also have in our possession a number of walkie-talkie radios to assist us with communication should there be a disturbance of telephone lines caused by fallen trees, light posts, etc," he added.