RICHMOND RIVER LEAVES RESIDENTS IN FEAR

It is usually the place to shower, wash clothes and frolic, but early last Tuesday, it posed a threat to livelihood.

The ‘Richmond River’ (as named by the residents) was in spate and drove fear into residents of Creary Crescent (formerly Riverside Drive) last week when the island was being battered by heavy rain from a trough across the Central Caribbean.

In the south-east St Mary community of Richmond, two men were not spared the brunt of the weather system as they were forced to pull apart what remained of their wooden home after a section of the structure was washed away.

“Di water [from the river] come in and dig out the whole a under the house bottom; so all a di kitchen, stove, an all dem ting deh wash weh gone. We nuh lose nothing much, a just di gas stove an’ one refrigerator pop off an’ gone,” Eric Francis, who was in the process of rebuilding his home, told the Jamaica Observer.

“And di bathroom gone too,” his housemate Junior Simmons chimed in. “We couldn’t do nothing at all…weh want lose, we lose, an once we life save, we good.”

“Fi him (Francis) bed deh right over di river enuh. It did more dangerous fi him cause right a di window over di river him bed deh. Him deh a di dangerous spot man. Half a di house deh over di river an half deh pan banking,” Simmons continued.

In addition to the kitchen and bathroom, the pit to the Francis and Simmons home was broken off by flood waters.
“A one big go it go. This damage was done in less than one night,” one resident said as she gazed out at the river.

The men acted quickly and disassembled the wooden structure in an attempt to save home — a move neighbours thought was smart.

“Dem did have to pull it off, cause if dem neva pull it off it did ago capsize. Me a tell yuh half a di house did a hang over di river,” a neighbour who identified herself as Sharon stated.

“A cause di post dem a di front part firm an cause di ting dem jus join up together to; but anyhow we did get a likkle more rain, everything would a jus gone,” Jennifer Thompson, a woman whose two-storey home collapsed last year, reasoned.

Residents admit that the lands they occupy were “captured” years ago and are now fearful that there is more devastation to come, with nowhere else for them to go.

“First me ever see it (the river) do so much damage — the pit gone completely,” Francis’ neighbour stated while looking out at the then calm river.

“Di river used to deh way over there so an den dem come an dig it say dem a grind it. So dem carry the dump and leave it there so and go dig this side an just leave it; so di river just a bus out a come this way now (closer to the homes). If them did dig it back da way deh (farther from homes) it would a continue over there so, but dem come an lead it to over here so,” she stated.

She told the Sunday Observer that the river appears to be flowing even closer to the homes since Tuesday’s downpour.

“That’s why we moving the house further, but we still nuh safe.”

Last week, Prime Minister Andrew Holness cited informal settlements as a reason for the significant flooding that affected Jamaicans.

“Where people choose to live will now have to take on greater scrutiny. Informal settlements, haphazard settlements, those things cannot be allowed to continue in our future. The cost of it is just too much and it’s not just the cost on infrastructure, but it is the cost in lives,” he stated during a tour of severely affected areas in St Catherine and St Ann.

“It is instructive that the areas that we’ve toured so far and areas that we’ve seen are areas that are close to river banks. Greater efforts should be taken to ensure that the rules are enforced as it relates to where people are allowed to live, and the Government has to be far more proactive in ensuring that people do not settle in areas that we know they are at potential risk and are vulnerable,” Holness also said.

The prime minster assured that the Government — which is already of the view that “a far more proactive approach” needs to be taken to address the kinds of lands people choose to settle on across the island — will now create a policy about same.

“We will have to take a revolutionary view as to how we settle our lands in Jamaica and where we provide those housing solutions,” Holness stated.