KINGSTON, Jamaica – Member of Parliament for Kingston Eastern and Port Royal, Phillip Paulwell is urging the government to make much-needed repairs to the Burger Gully in Mountain View, St Andrew, following destructive flooding on Friday when raging waters overflowed the banks during heavy rain.
He made the call during a walkthrough of Mountain View on Saturday to assess the damage in the community.
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“Today, Councillor [Jacqueline] Lewis and myself are walking through the community witnessing massive destruction of properties, personal items, foodstuff caused by the flooding that occurred yesterday,” Paulwell told reporters.
“This has been an ongoing problem, but recently it got worse with the damage done to a section or sections of the Burger Gully. We need to get the walls of the gully, the flooring of the gully fully repaired, and then we have to put in place structures now that will prevent flooding, especially to those homes that are not on the gully banks,” he said, adding “We are making a special appeal to the government of Jamaica to assist us in saving lives.”
Paulwell labelled the situation a “crisis”.
“This is entirely at crisis levels now. When you walk through the community, you are seeing every single home has been badly affected, people’s furniture damaged, school supplies being washed away, and general destruction and hardship,” he said.
Heavy flooding was reported in sections of the island on Friday as torrential rain pounded a number of parishes. When the water receded, scores of residents were left to clear their homes of mud and debris and assess damage.