St Catherine councillors to get more for drain cleaning

The start of the Atlantic hurricane season has placed the local planning authorities on alert with announcement of an active calendar.

Chairman of the St Catherine Municipal Corporation (SCMC), Councillor Norman Scott, said there is a state of readiness to respond to emergencies during the June 1 to November 30 period.

"We have all the emergency shelters checked and the managers are ready. We are also getting full cooperation from other response partners to deal with any eventualities," Scott said.

He was speaking at the municipal corporation's monthly general meeting last Thursday. He added that councillors, who currently get $750,000 each for drain cleaning, plus a special grant for repairs, will be getting additional sums in their divisions.

"I know that with the increase in salary, there will be an increase in allocations ... so while I still don't have a figure, it will be significantly more than last year," Scott said. This was welcomed by several councillors who said that the $750,000 was inadequate to clean the drains in their respective divisions.

A representative of the Jamaica Fire Brigade also told the meeting that they are ready to assist the SCMC if called upon. It was revealed that a dinghy has been procured to assist those in distress in case of flooding.

Checks revealed that the flood-prone Bannister community of Old Harbour has been spared so far due to dredging work in the nearby Big Pond area.