WESTERN BUREAU — Work on the nearly one mile of beach in Negril, Westmoreland that was severely eroded in October during storm surges associated with Hurricane Michelle, is expected to begin next week.

Minister of land and environment, Horace Dalley, told the Observer on Thursday that the work would involve the replacement of sand on the section of the beach that was badly affected by the storm surges.

“We plan to pump back some sand… to build back the beach, so that the tourists will be able to walk on the beach again. There are some sections where we just can’t walk, and one of the things about Negril is that people like to walk up and down the beach,” Dalley added.

The work will be done by an Ocho Rios-based firm, and Dalley said negotiations were almost finalised, adding that the company had the technology to do the work.

He did not name the contractor, but said the project was expected to cost about $2 million.

Apart from damaging the beach, the strong storm surges caused extensive damage to several resorts situated on Negril’s coastline.

After a tour of the affected resorts by water and housing minister Karl Blythe last October, he concluded that the damage had resulted due to a lack of barrier reefs. Blythe said then that government would have to erect artificial barrier reefs to prevent further damage.

But, Dalley told the Observer artificial barrier reefs could be very dangerous for the Negril area.

“Our technical people and marine biologists have done studies on it, and they have looked at the idea, and they are discouraging what Mr Blythe had said about using old cars, and old trains to make reefs.

“That will in fact damage the existing reefs more, because when the current comes into Negril it is very forceful,” Dalley added.

The land and environment ministry, he said, would have to start enforcing the law that permits persons building on the beachfront to do so at least 150 feet from the shoreline.

“Apart from this, there are some practices on the beach that we want to discourage. For instance, the construction of solid concrete structures on the beachfront; this causes more erosion,” said Dalley.