NATIONAL Works Agency (NWA) on Tuesday completed emergency clean-up activities in the Corporate Area-based Sandy Gully as residents on the banks and near the mouth of the drainage system expressed concern that it could lead to flooding once Hurricane Beryl impacts the island..

Communications manager at the NWA, Stephen Shaw told the Jamaica Observer that the clean-up process began on Sunday and continued until Tuesday whereby workers could be seen filling trucks with debris taken from the gully.

The majority of the work was being carried out in the Seaview Gardens section of the drainage system, which residents claim is a flood-prone area.

With Hurricane Beryl expected to make landfall in Jamaica today, the question of whether the NWA has enough time to clear the gully was raised.

“We are going through and at least creating some sort of channel to facilitate storm water flows. We will work up until we are unable so to do and, in the process, we hope that with what we have done they will be safe,” Shaw said.

He told the Observer that work in the gully will continue after Hurricane Beryl passes.

“Certainly. If we are not finished with what we are doing there we certainly will be continuing after the hurricane; and even with the magnitude of the work in the space, it is unlikely that we will finish with everything before the hurricane touches down on the island so we will continue with the activities,” Shaw added.

Residents of Seaview Gardens Phases 1 and 2, which are located close to where the gully empties into the sea, on Tuesday expressed renewed fears of the possibility of flooding in the community as the dangerous Hurricane Beryl took aim at the island.

They claimed that whenever there is heavy rain the water tends to overflow the banks of the gully, which is usually filled with garbage dumped by communities along the way.

According to the residents, with the warning about the possible major impact of Hurricane Beryl they expect major flooding in the area.

“You know, I am not concerned about the flooding because we know it a guh flood; it always happen. A something that we use to,” said one resident who refused to give his name.

“We talk about it for years, saying the gully needs to be cleaned and nobody nah clean it, so we just get used to it. It always flood. We have storm tomorrow [Wednesday] and we know it a guh flood because it lead to the Sandy Gully — and that’s what is causing the flooding,” the man added.

“This is the seas itself, and because of all the garbage in Sandy Gully… the water has nowhere to go, causing flooding. People closer to Riverton don’t get flood out but over this side — Phase 1 and Phase 2 — always get flood because everything lead to this,” he stated while pointing at the water flowing some metres from his home.

But Shaw argued that living on a gully bank, as many people do in areas affected by flooding, is not encouraged, and should be avoided.

He further advised that people who live in these areas should find alternative places to stay until the storm passes.

“We have been on record, in respect of persons who live on gully banks, that it is not encouraged for persons to live on gully banks. Those areas are quite vulnerable — gully banks, river banks. Those tend to be part of what is referred to as a flood plain so if you are in that space there is the likelihood of floodwaters impacting. You would be better advised to try and find suitable locations or a suitable location to go to while the system passes by,” he said.

As for the garbage being dumped in Sandy Gully, Shaw says lifestyle changes along with how garbage is collected need to be revisited to correct the issue.

“We have a problem with how we dispose of our garbage, without a doubt, and it’s true that persons up stream dump and it starts floods at the lower section of the channel. And so until we have serious behavioural change on the island coupled with, I suppose, a better system of collecting and disposing, you [will] continue to have these challenges,” Shaw said.