TWO river training projects are to begin in St Thomas on March 8, work that the authorities hope will give residents in that flood-prone parish improved protection this hurricane season.

Last Friday, two contracts, valued at over $31 million, were awarded to L & K Construction and Sean D Construction Company Limited which are expected to complete the work in the Yallahs River by this August.

This is a continuation of work which began last year to shore up the vulnerable river valley which is prone to severe flooding during heavy rains.

Transport Minister Mike Henry said shoreline protection work to the tune of $230 million, which began earlier this month, is also ongoing in Roselle, another area which is usually cut off during heavy rain.

Henry explained that boulders will be used to form the additional revetment to protect the shoreline and the roadway.

No major rehabilitation of the roadway will, however, be undertaken during this phase of activities, but Henry said the surface will be graded to improve drivability.

A retaining wall is also to be constructed at Roach Gully, another area which was badly damaged during the 2008 passage of Tropical Storm Gustav.

“St Thomas and Portland are the parishes which get hit most and earliest by hurricanes, and we have never spent enough money in those parishes in order for us to reach the real level that I think the parishes demand, but we are seeking to approach it in a more planned and productive way,” Henry told journalists during the contract signing at his Kingston offices.

Member of parliament for Western St Thomas James Robertson said river training in the Yallahs River area and the protection of the White Horses area are important to saving lives.

“In my short seven-year stint as MP, we’ve lost many, many lives because of the weakness in our river training and our road network… so this is major,” said Robertson.

During the passage of Hurricane Dean in 2007, 14-year-old Samantha Prince of Hamburg in St Thomas died on a church bench after being hit in the head by a rock.

Her death was particularly painful for her family as they had made several attempts to get her to the Princess Margaret Hospital for treatment but had to turn back after angry waves along the Roselle main road prevented them from going further.

Robertson said West and East St Thomas have been cut off in six major areas which makes it impossible during heavy rainfall to reach any hospital.

“I am satisfied that the work which was done last year in phase one in the Roselle area has protected us in making sure our residents will reach the Princess Margaret Hospital, and we will get to work safely when there are high seas and any weather pattern which normally would have cut us off,” Robertson said.

He said, however, that West St Thomas has about 20 areas in which districts are cut off in heavy rainfall. These, he said, will be addressed in a timely manner.

He explained further that phase one of the Yallahs River was the building of the bridge, while phase two consisted of river training work, which began in 2009.

The river training work will include packing of boulders in baskets along the river’s edge and along the mound created with material from the river bed. Wild cane and bump eye are to be planted in the topsoil which is being placed there.

The river training and Roselle projects are being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank, which was represented at the contract signing by transportation sector specialist Brian McNish.

Meanwhile, river training work is to begin along Hope River in St Andrew, where several houses were washed away during recent hurricanes. This work will be done as part of the contract for the Dry River Bridge in Harbour View, a section of which was also washed away during the passage of Gustav.

The contract for that work is to be signed this week.

According to Henry, the Hope River alone requires some $1.5 billion worth of protective works.