A common talking point as Jamaicans contemplate dangers posed by natural disasters, including hurricanes and flooding, is that tendency by some to build at the wrong place.

Socio-economic realities and/or plain ignorance sometimes influence people to set up house in unstable, vulnerable areas, such as the edge of watercourses, with very predictable results when natural disasters strike.

Hence the need for local authorities to do whatever is necessary to halt such unwise developments before they even begin or, at the very latest in early infancy.

Unfortunately, across Jamaica numerous such vulnerable communities have existed for generations. Yet we also know that, in some cases, homes and communities once considered safe have come under threat because rivers and streams changed course for reasons that are not always clear to the unlearned eye.

Residents of some coastal areas in southern Jamaica, especially, have also seen house and business become unviable over time as a result of extensive beach erosion, triggered by the unending ebb and flow of the sea.

Climate change has been identified by experts among the reasons for such phenomena. Beyond that, we also know that in nature, and all of life for that matter, change is constant.

Against that backdrop, we note the comment from Ms Charline Gabas, a resident of Bath, St Thomas, whose home as well as those of some of her neighbours are at risk because they say the Plantain Garden River has altered course over time.

Assertively pushing back against those who say they are at fault for building at the wrong place in the first place, Ms Gabas, who has lived in the community for 19 years, insists that she and her neighbours were never so naïve.

She says the river was once much farther from the houses and that the encroachment had occurred gradually with the water persistently washing away the land.

Said Ms Gabas: “We could not see river and build we house beside it; we are not that stupid… That is what I am trying to tell people, that the river was all the way over there suh, but over time it keep on coming over…”

And, while they are thankful for what they perceive to be temporary safety measures since the Plantation Garden River — fuelled by flood rains from Hurricane Melissa last October — invaded their community, Bath residents are asking for more.

They are pleading for action by the authorities to channel the river away from their homes and for other steps to protect their community.

They also say they have their own ideas of what needs to be done and would like to be heard.

Indeed, residents complain that they were never consulted about recent work done by the State to protect them.

Sadly, allegations of inadequate communication and consultation as State agencies set about vital work to uplift communities are far too commonplace.

It shouldn’t be too difficult to liaise with elected representatives, community groups through the Social Development Commission, church leadership, school leadership, et al, to ensure there is adequate consultation and two-way exchange of information.

It’s an aspect that must be taken on board as a matter of necessity by the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority in the post-Melissa
rebuild.