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Chigwell calamity
* Chang wants residents relo
cated * Wakefield also in crisis
BY HORACE HINES Observer West Reporter hinesh@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, November 04, 2010
MONTEGO BAY, St James -- Minister of water and housing Dr Horace Chang wants the relocation of over 650 residents of the Chigwell farming community in Hanover to government-owned lands situated nearby because of the susceptibility to flooding.
Several houses and farms in Chigwell are now submerged and the community is mostly surrounded by water as a result of heavy rains brought on by Tropical Storm Nicole a month ago.
Water and Housing Minister Dr Horace Chang (right foreground) being transported in a dinghy in flood-affected Chigwell farming community in Hanover last Thursday morning. (Photo: Alan Lewin)
Water and Housing Minister Dr Horace Chang (right foreground) being transported in a dinghy in flood-affected Chigwell farming community in Hanover last Thursday morning. (Photo: Alan Lewin)
Houses almost totally submerged by flood waters in Chigwell. (Photo: Alan Lewin)
Water and Housing Minister Dr Horace Chang (right foreground) being transported in a dinghy in flood-affected Chigwell farming community in Hanover last Thursday morning. (Photo: Alan Lewin)
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"There are government lands around, between Old Pen and Nyerere Farm, which is a significant area that the people would not be unwilling to move to. We will have discussions at Government level and look back at the situation shortly," Chang said during a tour of the community last weekend.
Rising waters have transformed the rustic community into a large lake, swallowing up three concrete houses. Chang was transported by boat to visit sections of the flooded community which suffered a similar fate in 1979.
Last week, Chang also contemplated relocation and requested emergency relief from the Ministry of Labour for more than 120 persons of the Wakefield community in Trelawny who have been forced to evacuate their homes on account of flood waters.
"We have had discussions with my colleagues in social security about immediate relief because people are having serious problems which impact on them economically," Chang said, following a tour of Wakefield.
"Children can't get to school, adults can't get to work. Their belongings are flooded and funding is not there to do what they normally would do. It is a serious problem, and having the opportunity to see it first-hand made a definite impression," he said.
At Chigwell, Chang noted that most of the residents who are now faced with the possibility of moving are descendants and relatives of those who refused to participate in a relocation exercise just over three decades ago.
But Patrick Wilson, a farmer whose house and crops have been covered by a large body of water, welcomed the suggestion of a move to higher ground.
"I would not want to stay there until water come again. I would love the Government to establish a new home for me," Wilson said.
At Wakefield, Chang who was accompanied by Councillor Jonathan Bartley (JLP, Wakefield Division) and Senator Dennis Meadows, JLP caretaker for North Trelawny, met with distressed community members whose houses are inundated.
"A significant number of houses have been flooded out and we have to examine the possibility of whether it can be corrected by improved drainage so that you don't have a repeat such as we have now; or we may have to relocate some of the residents," Chang said.
He revealed that information from the Water Resources Authority had suggested that the flooding in Chigwell and Wakefield after the passage of Tropical Storm Nicole resulted from blocked sink holes that were not cleaned during the dry season.
"Keeping sink holes clean" as well as "improved drainage" should be ongoing priorities, Chang said.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/weste...lamity_8115195
* Chang wants residents relo
cated * Wakefield also in crisis
BY HORACE HINES Observer West Reporter hinesh@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, November 04, 2010
MONTEGO BAY, St James -- Minister of water and housing Dr Horace Chang wants the relocation of over 650 residents of the Chigwell farming community in Hanover to government-owned lands situated nearby because of the susceptibility to flooding.
Several houses and farms in Chigwell are now submerged and the community is mostly surrounded by water as a result of heavy rains brought on by Tropical Storm Nicole a month ago.
Water and Housing Minister Dr Horace Chang (right foreground) being transported in a dinghy in flood-affected Chigwell farming community in Hanover last Thursday morning. (Photo: Alan Lewin)Water and Housing Minister Dr Horace Chang (right foreground) being transported in a dinghy in flood-affected Chigwell farming community in Hanover last Thursday morning. (Photo: Alan Lewin)
Houses almost totally submerged by flood waters in Chigwell. (Photo: Alan Lewin)
Water and Housing Minister Dr Horace Chang (right foreground) being transported in a dinghy in flood-affected Chigwell farming community in Hanover last Thursday morning. (Photo: Alan Lewin)#slideshowtoggler { FILTER: none !important; ZOOM: normal !important}#slideshowtoggler A { FILTER: none !important; ZOOM: normal !important}#slideshowtoggler IMG { FILTER: none !important; ZOOM: normal !important}
1/2 "There are government lands around, between Old Pen and Nyerere Farm, which is a significant area that the people would not be unwilling to move to. We will have discussions at Government level and look back at the situation shortly," Chang said during a tour of the community last weekend.
Rising waters have transformed the rustic community into a large lake, swallowing up three concrete houses. Chang was transported by boat to visit sections of the flooded community which suffered a similar fate in 1979.
Last week, Chang also contemplated relocation and requested emergency relief from the Ministry of Labour for more than 120 persons of the Wakefield community in Trelawny who have been forced to evacuate their homes on account of flood waters.
"We have had discussions with my colleagues in social security about immediate relief because people are having serious problems which impact on them economically," Chang said, following a tour of Wakefield.
"Children can't get to school, adults can't get to work. Their belongings are flooded and funding is not there to do what they normally would do. It is a serious problem, and having the opportunity to see it first-hand made a definite impression," he said.
At Chigwell, Chang noted that most of the residents who are now faced with the possibility of moving are descendants and relatives of those who refused to participate in a relocation exercise just over three decades ago.
But Patrick Wilson, a farmer whose house and crops have been covered by a large body of water, welcomed the suggestion of a move to higher ground.
"I would not want to stay there until water come again. I would love the Government to establish a new home for me," Wilson said.
At Wakefield, Chang who was accompanied by Councillor Jonathan Bartley (JLP, Wakefield Division) and Senator Dennis Meadows, JLP caretaker for North Trelawny, met with distressed community members whose houses are inundated.
"A significant number of houses have been flooded out and we have to examine the possibility of whether it can be corrected by improved drainage so that you don't have a repeat such as we have now; or we may have to relocate some of the residents," Chang said.
He revealed that information from the Water Resources Authority had suggested that the flooding in Chigwell and Wakefield after the passage of Tropical Storm Nicole resulted from blocked sink holes that were not cleaned during the dry season.
"Keeping sink holes clean" as well as "improved drainage" should be ongoing priorities, Chang said.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/weste...lamity_8115195
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