WITH forecasts for a very active hurricane season, KSAC councillors Wednesday were demanding that local government ministry set up an annual fund for the municipalities and parish councils to clean and maintain drains and gullies on an ongoing basis.

The Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) approved a motion calling on Minister Portia Simpson Miller to immediately dedicate a minimum of $50 million for the cleaning of gullies waterways and drains in the corporate area, saying the issue was crucial to life and property.

At the same time, Kingston mayor Desmond McKenzie made it clear that the KSAC’s limited resources would not be adequate to prepare the drainage system to stem flooding.

Already, one hurricane system has brushed Jamaica and another is expected to just miss the island. The rains, however, have been persistent.

“In the current circumstances, with our limited resources and the increasing need for preparation of the drainage system to handle the excessive flooding, which is anticipated for the rest of the period, I fear the rest of the hurricane season,” said the mayor.

The areas most seriously affected by Hurricane Dennis on July 7 included Bull Bay, Dallas, Kintyre, Mavis Bank and Gordon Town and other sections of rural St Andrew.

He was also worried about residents in Harbour View.

McKenzie has also recommended to the government that residents of Taylor Land in Bull Bay be relocated to lands near Cane River.

He said that 67 houses in the area were covered by rocks and sand during the rains brought by Dennis.

Noting that the ministry has authorised the use of proceeds from the parochial revenue fund for the programme of gully cleaning for three months, the resolution moved by councillor Audley Gordon (JLP-Hughenden division) at Wednesday’s council meeting, pointed out that the funds were being diverted from the maintenance of roads.

The $8 million to $10 million the KSAC receives monthly from the parochial revenue fund was inadequate for road maintenance in Kingston and St Andrew and is nowhere near the $117 million the KSAC will need for the vital cleaning of gullies and drains this year, the resolution pointed out.

Property worth billions of dollars would be jeopardised if the gullies and drains were not maintained, Gordon said.

The parochial funds, he added, are already inadequate to maintain the more than 300 roads.

“… Yet we are being asked to abandon the maintenance and use the funds for three months to clean the drains. We are being made to fight a war with our hands tied behind us,” said Gordon.

“The KSAC has over 130 gullies and drains, and the budget for this is even worse as not even one cent is made available for their maintenance,” he declared.

However, councillor Linton Walters (PNP-Waterhouse division) who argued that the council needed to show its financial independence of central government, suggested that KSAC use ‘own source’ income from billboard and building fees, for example, to fund drain cleaning.

“I do believe, your worship, that we need to look at those funds that we have raised and look to see how we can utilise some of those funds to deal with the issues that we have to deal with here like the drain cleaning,” he said.

Mayor McKenzie admitted that the KSAC has increased its income “right across the board,” but explained that the additional revenue from ‘own source’ fees was already being used to make up the shortfall in financial allocations from central government.

“The KSAC needs an average of $14 to $19 million on a monthly basis to pay salaries and other commitments. This council has never got a cheque from the Ministry of Local Government for the full amount for the longest while,” said the mayor.

“We got $8 million last month, so there is a shortfall of $10 million. That funding you speak about Councillor Walters is the funds that we have to use to provide the salaries for the staff and councillors and to do the necessary things for survival”.

He added that ‘own source’ funds – totalling $25 million – were used to clean drains prior to Hurricane Ivan last year and even though local government had promised to reimburse the council, “we have not heard from the ministry.”

The council deserves the same treatment as the National Works Agency, which has an ongoing budget for road maintenance, separate from allocations for drain clearance and repairs, the mayor said.