Minister of Water and Housing Donald Buchanan says the severe flooding which has been affecting residents of the Kennedy Grove housing scheme, near Palmer’s Cross in Clarendon, should be alleviated by October.

Buchanan was responding to comments made by the Member of Parliament for the area, Ruddy Spencer, in the House of Representatives last Wednesday.

Spencer said that not only were seven of the 131 houses built in one of 13 ponds in the area that were constructed to collect flood water, but that the scheme’s sewage disposal plant was also built in a pond. He noted that the scheme was a joint venture between the Ministry of Water and Housing and a private developer.

The MP quoted from a letter sent to the Clarendon Parish Council, in November 2004, by the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA).

The letter said that despite the main developer’s claims that approval was granted by the Clarendon Parish Council, officers of the parish’s health division, who would have been part of the process, had indicated that to the best of their knowledge, no plans for the scheme were ever submitted to their department.

The letter also noted that the lift station for the sewage treatment plant was first flooded out in May 2002, and the building was submerged for days. A number of houses located close to the pond had to be abandoned.

Since then, the lift station has been flooded out on several occasions. “The current situation is most unsatisfactory and is resulting in pollution of the pond and possible contamination of the underground aquifer,” said the SRHA’s letter.

The health authority also said that the treatment ponds were in poor condition and overgrown with bushes, and the embankment had eroded, contributing to the breeding of mosquitos.

Minister Buchanan admitted that the Kennedy Grove Housing Scheme was developed between 1998 and 2001, as a joint venture between the ministry and a private developer, and financed by the Jamaica Mortgage Bank.

He said that the scheme went through all the necessary approval processes and that the ministry only executed the agreement after favourable comments from all of the necessary agencies – Ministry of Transport and Works, Water Resources Authority, Government Town Planner, Environment Housing Unit of the Ministry of Health, the Clarendon Parish Council (1998) and the NRCA.

However, he said that shortly after the scheme came into operation, “it showed some distressful signs”.

“There existed a sinkhole on the property, which provided a run-off for the water. It is obvious that the construction interfered with the capacity of the sinkhole to operate,” Buchanan admitted.

He said that Spencer was correct that seven of the units are directly affected. He said the ministry recognised that the situation could be left unattended.

He also admitted that Spencer was correct that the first signs were seen in May 2002. He said that effective last year, the ministry and the Jamaica Mortgage Bank initiated an evaluation which has been completed and that certain proposals have been made with respect to enhancing the percolation rate of the sinkhole, the prevention of future blockage at the sinkhole and the lifting of the road, which has been depositing additional water into the scheme.

“Arising from this evaluation report, instructions have been given for the appropriate engineering and surveying skills to be obtained to complete the evaluation and engineering design by the end of July for us to prepare tender documents in August and to commence critical corrective work, which is expected to last for about six weeks,” the minister said.

He said that it is expected that the work will continue through to September and he was hopeful that by October the problems would have been corrected.