Dear Editor,

In the Jamaica Observer dated Tuesday, October 8, 2019 I read with interest and disgust an article headline, ‘Flooding haunts Harriott Meadows residents’, as it was redolent of what exists on Salem Crescent in Runaway Bay whenever it rains.

Since the resurfacing of the main road in Runaway Bay, Salem Crescent is invariably inundated as obviously there were inadequate drainage plans for water from the highway, and in the absence of proper planning, water from the elevated main road empties onto Salem Crescent.

Reports to political representatives and the National Works Agency (NWA) have been to no avail, hence the situation remains the same.

I therefore ask: What role does the NWA and parish councils play in planning for such developments? Surely, there must be processes from planning/designing to implementation and each phase reviewed before ultimate imprimatur is given.

If this is a fact, government operatives have fallen down on their jobs, as there are a plethora of complaints being made about substandard projects that are being approved as having been completed to meet requisite standards.

Is this state of affairs unique to Salem Crescent and Harriott Meadows, or rather quite pervasive throughout Jamaica?

Desmond Blair

d_blair77@yahoo.com