SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth – Imran Singh, Regional Systems Manager for the National Irrigation Commission (NIC) is seeking to assure residents of flood-prone New River that cleaning of drains and water courses in the Upper Black River Morass close to the village will take place as soon as conditions allow.

Singh told Observer Online on Wednesday that currently there is too much surface water for excavating equipment to operate safely.

“Those drains can’t be cleaned when the area is saturated, we have to wait for the area to dry out,” Singh told Observer Online. 

He was responding to questions following complaints from Councillor for the Santa Cruz Division, Christopher Williams (JLP), who told the Observer that drains and water courses linked to the Black River in the vicinity of New River are currently blocked.

Williams said that unless urgent action is taken, serious flooding will occur if a weather system such as Tropical Storm Elsa which passed east of Jamaica a few days ago has direct impact on St Elizabeth.

The councilor said limited funds from the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation had been used to do some cleaning but that was insufficient. “The NIC has to act,” he said.

New River, a low-lying area located just north of Santa Cruz on the fringes of the Upper Black River Morass, is among Jamaica’s most flood-prone communities.

Garfield Myers