‘It’s terrible, terrible’
Commuting concerns after Rafael leaves breakaways, flooding in Troja
Residents of Troja district in St Catherine are expressing concerns about their ability to commute to school and work because of flooding and breakaways following the passage of Tropical Storm Rafael on Tuesday.
“No school will be held and work is postponed,” one male resident said candidly about the trail of damage left by the storm.
A two-minute drive into the community makes their gripe evident as motorists immediately meet flooded fords that have broken away in some areas. Residents explain the breakaways occurred on Monday with the onset of rain from Rafael.
Chunks of asphalt and stone, ripped away from the road, could be seen sitting in the river metres below. The route is part of the main thoroughfare from the John Crow Spring area through Riversdale to Bog Walk.
During the passage of the tropical storm, the National Works Agency listed Troja as one of 11 areas where roads were either blocked or otherwise affected. But the community experiences this regularly, according to residents.
“Once we have any rain or any flood,” one man declared, regarding the frequency.
They’re not hopeful about a quick fix to the problem either, and told Jamaica Observer that there’s no telling what could happen in the future.
“It’s terrible, terrible,” a female resident said of the damage, “nobody is taking care of us, so we have to just help ourselves.”
Former councillor of the Troja Division, the People’s National Party’s William Cytall, who is from the area, corroborated residents’ accounts.
“We have five fords in Troja which are always blocked because the volume of water coming from the hills exceeds the intake of the culverts, so transportation is disrupted for days and schools in the area have to be closed,” he said.
The road was recently patched but it is again in need of repair because of the flooding, residents told the Observer.
They’re also frustrated about the maintenance of the road and drains.
“On Monday we were the ones who had to clear the culverts to let out the water,” the male resident said.
Cytall said that while he was councillor he had to keep a backhoe on standby to clean the drains during the rainy season and maintained that the practice should be continued.
