MONTEGO BAY, St James — The results of a much-touted drainage study for Montego Bay, being undertaken as part of the massive Perimeter Road Project, are expected to be released shortly.

“We are definitely going to make an announcement in December, January as to what the results of the drainage study has been and what are we going to do to fix the drainage problem in St James,” minister with responsibility for works in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Infrastructure Development (MEGID) Robert Morgan said during a tour of major projects in Montego Bay on Wednesday.

St James, and Montego Bay in particular, has grappled with flooding issues for years. One of the most severe cases was in 2017 when a short period of intense rainfall caused severe flooding within the centre of the city. Then during the passage of Hurricane Melissa last year, the communities of Catherine Hall, West Green and surrounding areas were left completely inundated, with water reaching up to 10 feet in some places.

Economic activity has taken a hit in the area with MegaMart’s doors remaining closed after a battering by the Category 5 storm. Other long-planned businesses to come on stream have asked for an assurance that a solution to the flooding will be found. According to Morgan, it is expected that the study, the results of which will be presented to Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness in December, will do just that.

The report, Morgan explained, is being undertaken as a variation to the Perimeter Road contract. It is a drainage study for the entire Montego Bay, including Catherine Hall, West Green, Barnett Estate, Fairview, as well as the North and South Gullies.

The minister said although the study is not yet complete, there is a plan for implementation of the fixes identified.

“The prime minister has already committed that the solution to the flooding in St James — not just Catherine Hall, but the wider St James — will be dealt with under the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) resilience programme. But even before then we are also thinking about doing some work in Catherine Hall and West Green,” Morgan outlined.

Work underway on a section of the massive Perimeter Road Project in Montego Bay, St James.

Just last week, a brief downpour left residents of Catherine Hall wading through knee-deep water as the community was again forced to contend with flooding.

“Catherine Hall and West Green had drains for a different time. The size of the drains, the depth of the drains, the carrying capacity of the drains [is inadequate] as you saw after Melissa,” the works minister said.

“What it says to you is that the carrying capacity of the drains is no longer useful for the type of debris that is coming down and for the type of population that is built up around the area. A lot of the water that comes through Catherine Hall and West Green do not originate in Catherine Hall and West Green so that is why we have to look at it from a holistic perspective,” he added.

Currently, the National Road Operating and Construction Company (NROCC) is overseeing the development of the main road that borders both communities, with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) serving as the contractor.

The work will see the road widened from two lanes to four, increasing capacity from Howard Cooke Boulevard all the way to Barnett Street.

On Wednesday, NROCC Managing Director Steven Edwards provided an update on that aspect of the work.

“We are finished with a lot of the earthworks there, so I would say we are about 60 per cent and the rest of the project will move really fast,” he assured.