Some residents of Texas Avenue in Portmore, St Catherine, who fear that the floors in their houses, which are being undermined by underground water, could cave in at any time, are scheduled to receive State assistance to correct the threat.

That’s according to Local Government and Community Development Minister Desmond McKenzie who visited the community on Tuesday in response to alarm raised by the nervous residents.

“I get worried when the rain is falling heavily and [when] I hear about earthquakes, but I put God first and hope for the best” Sophia Parnell told the Jamaica Observer on Tuesday as she showed the news team around her house.

“When the rain falls, the water underground seeps up into my dining room area, onto the carport, and out to the road. My house doesn’t flood, but you can see the water pushing up and it causes a lot of damage, and it makes the floor inside the dining room black. Because of the water, parts of the house crack. I want Government to give me a good fix-up,” she said, while expressing fear that parts of the house could collapse.

Her neighbour, Shecka Hyatt, who lives across the street, pointed to sections of her house that are badly cracked because of water that seeps up from underground whenever it rains. She also showed the Observer a section of a room in which the floor is sinking and expressed fear about the danger it poses to her two-year-old daughter.

In Hyatt’s case, the problem stems from a culvert in a gully behind her yard, which allows water to flow beneath her house when it rains.

“The water caused the concrete in the yard to crack and inside the house to crack up. This has been happening for about 10 years,” she said.

“The drain needs to fix and the house needs to be fixed as well, because inside has been cracking up. The water eats out the flooring and breaks up the tiles. As you can see, there is a big sink in the floor,” Hyatt said.

McKenzie, after viewing the problem, promised a remedy soon.

He was accompanied by representatives of National Works Agency (NWA); Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management; Mayor of Portmore Leon Thomas; and other political representatives.

Courtney Mullings, NWA assistant parish manager for St Catherine, explained that the situation stemmed from an issue in which water from the adjoining Arizona Avenue enters a drain and runs underneath Texas Avenue then into the gully.

“What seems to have happened is that there is compromise as it relates to the culvert. Because of the constant flow of water it undermines and eats out the entire area. We will be asking a structural engineer to give us some better particulars on it so that we can be better able to deal with the situation,” Mullings said.

In response, the residents said they felt pleased that after numerous visits to the community by the authorities over many years, there now appears to be a serious intention to fix the problem.

McKenzie explained that the relevant bodies will undergo a process of tender to select a contractor who will take on the project. He said the tender process should take approximately four weeks to complete.

“Robert Miller, the Member of Parliament for the area, took me here a couple of years ago because of complaints from residents at Texas Avenue about a drain that runs adjacent to this premises. Now, we are discovering that water is running under the building. That has been creating some serious problems. It is something that requires a lot of engineering support in terms of finding solutions,” said McKenzie.

“It has taken a long time because of the depth of what had to be investigated. The problem didn’t start here at this premises. It started a couple roads back. We have seen where the drainage system is compromised in many ways. Boundary walls were constructed on top of the drains, and what that did was bring unnecessary pressure. What we are seeing now is as a result of the collapsing infrastructure,” he added.

“The ministry has provided some funds, but because of the procurement process, which I have asked the ministry to expedite… once the procurement process is concluded we will be working closely with the National Works Agency, the [Portmore] Municipal Corporation, and the ministry to ensure the project is done properly,” the minister said.

A structural engineer, he said, will be involved in the process to ensure that, once the work begins, nothing will pose a threat to the residents.

He pointed out that questions regarding any possible compensation for damage would be answered after the necessary assessments are completed.

In the meantime, Mayor Thomas said there are a number of drains that pose a similar problem in other communities.

“We have several of these drains that run through premises in Passagefort, Independence City, and Edgewater. These are the conditions of the drains and over the years we have seen a lot of sewerage lines collapse because they were made from asbestos pipes and they are giving way now,” he said.

Councillor Courtney Edwards (Jamaica Labour Party, Independence City Division) pointed out that many communities in Portmore were built 57 years ago and are now collapsing because drain walls have done their time.

“As a result, we are seeing the collapsing of these areas which allows water to be going beneath the housing developments,” said Edwards.