Editor: We have been of late experiencing a lot of rain on a daily basis. With these heavy rains, we have had flooding, landslides and other damage associated with a trough system. Interestingly, it seems like this country cannot tolerate rains of any magnitude, as this causes many landslides and floods.{{more}}

Some of these landslides and floods happen because banks have been cut, thus weakening the soil and also the blocking of drains and rivers with debris. Some of these are the cost of development.

What is unfortunate is that in some areas, such as North Leeward, there is no alternate road. Any major landslide will cut the area off from the rest of the country. You take for example recently, there was a major landslide above Spring Village. This blockage prevented traffic to and from North Leeward. Some vehicles spent up to four to five hours waiting to pass. Can you imagine if the ambulance came with an emergency what would have occurred? There are other areas in this country like that.

It is so unfortunate that in most cases it is hard to find a bypass road. A by-pass road can become a reality, but it will require millions of dollars. In the short term, it would be nice to have a front-end loader that is readily available stationed, during these times, in every constituency.

In the meantime, we, as citizens in this country, have to protect our environment by controlling the debris that we throw in the rivers and drains. Sometimes, in some cases, these floods occur due to water that comes from private homes. Some of the water coming out from the private homes is heavy, but ends up in drains which are too small to hold it.

I think it is important that when drains are being built that they are deep and big to contain the volume of water that sometimes comes from private homes. Also, some homeowners need to have proper drainage systems. Of importance, a correct study ought to be done in terms of the soil when cutting down a bank.

Let us continue to love and protect our environment. Let there be proper garbage disposal and also avoid, as much as possible, leaving debris and trees in the streams and valleys and also in the rivers and drains.

It thus appears that the soil has been saturated in some areas and so it is now moving and the boulders are becoming loose. Also care must be exercised when constructing a building. Private home owners have a responsibility of ensuring that proper drainage and garbage disposal are laid down on their property.

Kennard King