MANDEVILLE, Manchester — For 77-year-old Leebert Campbell and his two neighbours on Gibson Close, off Ward Avenue, heavy and persistent rains spell trouble as water ponds in their yards lead to regular flooding which, as in the case of last year’s Hurricane Melissa, sometimes covers their houses.

“If it comes like how it came the last time we have to just leave the house, because we cannot trust the water when it goes down to the soak-away and comes back up, because the soak-away needs to be fixed. When night comes and it is raining we cannot sleep. We have to be up walking around to see if the house is going to flood,” Campbell told the Jamaica Observer.

He argued that he could not relocate because “I don’t have nowhere to go”.

Mayor of Mandeville Donovan Mitchell told the Observer that the area is flood-prone as water flows off Greenvale Road and Old Greenvale Road to a soak-away on Gibson Close.

“There are some specifics which I won’t say, because that is a problem [from] before my time as mayor,” said Mitchell as he argued that the area is not fit for housing development.

Firefighters assist in evacuating occupants of one of three houses affected by flooding during Hurricane Melissa last October.

“The truth is that no houses should have been built in that area. That is the water way. The water comes from both sides of Greenvale Road and that is where the natural ponding is, so it is an area where those persons who bought the houses should be aware of the situation,” added Mitchell who is chairman of the Manchester Municipal Corporation,

He explained that a technical team from the municipal corporation visited the area in the aftermath of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa last October and concluded that there is no fix for the problem.

“My engineers have said to me there is nothing that we can do to avoid the flooding there; it is the natural soak-away area. The water will recede in days or hours, but it is an area that is prone to flooding,” said Mitchell.

“Persons have built, bought houses there, but what do you do, is it a problem that as it starts to rain or we have heavy rains you are thinking of your next move? Every time it rains you or your furniture is damaged, you have to buy again and all that; it is pennywise and pound foolish. I will implore the NWA (National Works Agency) to look at the roadways and to see how best they can mitigate the problems that these persons are having on these roadways,” added Mitchell.

But the residents, while accepting that the area is flood-prone, pointed fingers at a nearby quarry, claiming that the volume of water has increased since operations started there.

“There is a marl pit over there… and since then the water comes down more, whether they believe it or not,” Campbell said.

A section of Gibson Close off Ward Avenue in Mandeville.

However, the quarry’s operator, Mandeville businessman Miguel Smith Sr, is adamant that the flooding problem has nothing to do with his operation.

“It is not the first time it flooded. Everybody will tell you every major hurricane comes is only the rooftops you see… That is how it has been since they built those houses. I have nothing to do with the flooding; it has been there long before me,” Smith told the Observer.

According to Smith, he is willing to purchase the three properties which have been flooded regularly.

“I am not buying the houses, just the land.. I would give them $10 million per lot,” said Smith.

However, realtor Leighton Gibson, son of the developer for Gibson Close, has rejected the offer.

MITCHELL…the truth is that no houses should have been built in that area (Photo: Karl Mclarty)

“He [Smith] did bring that to my attention and I told him that is something that I cannot accept… I have no problem selling it for the property value. In my own opinion, I believe the value there is not going to be comparable to that of Mandeville, because of the issues there, but $10 million per lot is impractical. I would venture to $30 million [or more] as a real value for each property,” said Gibson.

“The water coming over is in a greater volume now. We have spoken to him [Smith] about it to see if he can do something about his quarrying work and send the water somewhere else. Even if we put another soak-away there it cannot deal with the large volume of water,” added Gibson.

He told the Observer that, some two decades ago, there was a court matter in which his father had sought redress from the authorities to mitigate flooding.

“My father carried the National Works Agency to court about the matter… When it rained there was a large volume of water coming toward us, so my father recognised that it was the NWA that had hit out a wall to create an access point to come over on us. We had a settlement in court for the National Works Agency to remedy the situation to reduce the opportunity of flooding,” said Gibson who charged that the responsibility to resolve the flooding problem was handed over to the municipal corporation.

But with the municipal corporation claiming there is no fix for the problem the residents have entered another Atlantic hurricane season with the fear that with any heavy rain they will be flooded out once again.