The National Works Agency (NWA) has attributed the absence of flooding during the island’s near miss with Hurricane Ernesto last weekend, in part, to the work done in cleaning gullies and drains in preparation for the hurricane season.

According to the NWA’s communications and customer service manager Stephen Shaw, “significant work had been undertaken between May and July to ensure that critical water ways remained free of silt and debris,” under Phase’s Three A and Three B of the entity’s disaster mitigation programme which began in May of this year.

“We have had no reports of flooding in any of the communities around the island and I think it is a good reflection of the effort that we put into getting a lot of our water ways clear before this kind of system came,” Shaw told the Observer.

“I think we are well underway to mitigating because we now understand that it is cheaper to mitigate flooding in some of areas rather than await the passage of a storm or hurricane. With blocked drains we know that the potential for flooding is a lot and we would rather spend the money now to ensure that our drains are clear,” Shaw noted. In fact, he said approximately $100 billion had been received for work under phase Three A and $200 billion for work under Phase Three B.

In the meantime, Shaw said several projects had already started under phase Three B of the programme, specifically the flood prone Bull Bay and Yallahs areas in St Thomas and several areas across the Corporate Area.

Other areas to receive attention have been Water Lane and the Trout Hall to Grantham main road in Clarendon, where some four gabion walls were constructed to protect roadways in the area. Work was also undertaken on drains in the Grange Hill area of Westmoreland, Little London and the roadway between Negril and Savannah-la-mar.

Work is also being undertaken, he said, at Three Miles River in Westmoreland, and a new concrete drain is being undertaken in addition to work to replace an undersized bridge in the vicinity.

Work has also been undertaken on drains in the Mammee Bay and Ochio Rios areas of St Ann.

“This year all fourteen parishes have gotten attention under phases Three A and B of the programme, some are receiving attention now. We have gone ahead and we have mapped the country and we know where the potential flashpoints are in terms of flooding and these are the areas that we are focusing on to try and ensure that whatever flooding is experienced, is significantly mitigated,” Shaw pointed out.