MANDEVILLE, Manchester —With mainly the northern section of the parish impacted by Hurricane Melissa seven months ago, chairman of the Manchester Municipal Corporation, mayor of Mandeville Donovan Mitchell says shelter repairs, drain cleaning, and road repairs are underway in the parish in preparation for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season which started on Monday.

“We are prepared… We generally know that the first two to three months of the hurricane season are not that active, but towards the end of [ the period it] becomes active. We are making sure that by the time if something should hit us in the latter part of the hurricane season that we are ready for any eventualities,” Mitchell told the
Jamaica Observer.

“We are proactive. We are not waiting until anything happens before we do some work, and so as a municipality Manchester is about 80 per cent ready — and we are sure that if anything should come that we are in a position to deal with it,” added Mitchell.

He pointed out that the municipal body was also prepared last year but noted that the Category 5 Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall on October 28, “came to us with some shock”.

According to Mitchell, in preparation for this year’s hurricane season the majority of shelters in Manchester were assessed and repaired to ensure readiness.

“We currently have 55 shelters that are recommended for use. Generally we used to have about 86 [but] some of the shelters were damaged in Melissa and those have not yet been fixed,” he said.

“However, the shelter for persons of unsound mind will be ready… We try to use the Mandeville Primary School for that shelter,” added Mitchell while pointing out that all shelters have access ramps to assist people with physical disabilities.

He said a review is being done of the list of shelters managers.

“Some are getting old, but we will be able to find people just in case a hurricane should come,” he explained.

Mitchell pointed out that a warehouse which is used to store hurricane relief supplies for residents of the parish has also been repaired.

“This is to ensure that it can house some goodies just in case something happens, because we are the first responders and we have to always make sure that we have something in store so that if something else happens elsewhere and they [government agencies] cannot get to us, we are not [left] in a position that we can’t do anything,” said Mitchell as he told the Observer that a Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation Committee meeting is also set for this Thursday, with the major disaster response stakeholders in the parish invited to attend.

“We want to make sure that all hands are on board. We have some equipment on standby just in case of anything…” said Mitchell.

The mayor added that drain cleaning is expected to be ramped up in June across Manchester, with money received from the Ministry of Local Government.

“We try to have these roads in the parochial area — not the main roads, because that’s the jurisdiction of the [National Works Agency] and the Members of Parliament — ready,” he said.

Mitchell noted that repairs are now taking place on the Mollison Road near Christiana, after it collapsed, “Because if that road is not repaired you are actually locking in about 1,000 residents in one area… but our parochial roads are in a fairly good condition, I want to say”.

He pointed to recent repairs on McKinley Road, Brumalia Road, Wint Road and Ward Avenue, which are all heavily utilised by motorists accessing the town of Mandeville.

“The councillors are looking at the roads in their division to see how much they can at least have them in a situation where people can move in and out,” added Mitchell.

“We are in dialogue with the Minister [of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie] to see what more he can give and so we are waiting to see if he will be able to assist us in getting some of these works done,” said Mitchell.

He called on residents to take personal responsibility to keep drains near their homes clear, after they are cleaned by the municipal body.

“We inspect drains that flow through private properties to ensure they are maintained and are not blocked, because there is a tendency for people just to block up the drains or to build in the drains — and we have taken a zero-tolerance approach to that situation. Persons are to make sure that the drains are maintained and there is no blocking of the drains. The citizens are to make sure there is no debris and that they don’t dump any plastic or garbage [in the drains],” added Mitchell.

He also pointed to the challenge of roadside garages and construction zones where material is used to block drains.

“People keep dumping their building materials — sand and marl — on the roadways, and if we have a heavy shower some of these run into the drains And we have said to these persons, ‘You need to ask for the permission of the council if you can keep these things on the road. There is a specific time frame that the council will give for you to remove or to use whatever you have put on the roadway.’ The law gives us, under the Parochial Roads Act, the right to remove these building materials, if we have served the notice on the persons, and to charge them for the cost to remove it,” said Mitchell.

“Some persons block the water pathway with [derelict] vehicles so we are appealing to these persons to start removing them because we are going to be moving those vehicles, [especially where] people use the roadway for garages,” he added.

The emergency shelter building at Hatfield Primary School in Manchester (Photo: Garfield Robinson)