THE Jamaican Government says it will be moving with dispatch to effect repairs on the Palisadoes peninsula in Kingston, in light of warnings from experts that the 2007 hurricane season, which starts in June, could be overly active.

The strip, which is the sole access road to Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport, has been a source of concern as the roadway is sometimes left impassable due to high waves from the sea, after being severely eroded by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

Speaking at a press conference in Kingston yesterday, Housing, Transport, Water and Works Minister Robert Pickersgill said note was being taken of the predictions of the return of La Nina, an atmospheric condition that promotes the formation of hurricanes.

Pickersgill said that in preparation for the hurricane season the government would be spending $40 million to deal with sections which were more severely affected during the last hurricane season as expectations were that with weather patterns to be influenced by La Nina, the Caribbean region could have more hurricanes. “So we have to be more careful,” Pickersgill said.

At the same time, the transport minister said the coastal protection study which was being conducted by a Cuban firm on the peninsula is now complete and engineering design and estimated costs prepared for the most critical area of the strip, which measures some 310 kilometres.

In addition, Pickersgill said a preliminary meeting has been held with the Caribbean Development Bank to discuss financing arrangements for 6.5 kilometres of road along which the shoreline protection and rehabilitation works are to be completed.

Noted storm prognosticator William Gray and his research assistant Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University have predicted 14 named storms, including seven hurricanes, in 2007 which would represent a slightly busier than normal season, which typically sees 11 named storms and six hurricanes. However, Gray’s forecast was drafted in December before the La Nina conditions were detected.