Backyard burial plots, pit latrines at risk after Rafael
BAY ROAD, Westmoreland — Flooding from Tropical Storm Rafael has inundated backyard graves and pit latrines in Little London, Westmoreland, sparking alarm among the councillor and health officials who are concerned about the potential health hazard.
On Thursday, chief public health inspector for Westmoreland Steve Morris said his team, which visited the community a day earlier, is monitoring the situation.
“Our education unit and health inspectors have been out there. The vector control team is aware of what is happening,” he told the Jamaica Observer.
Morris urged residents to take precautions and appealed to them to avoid venturing into the water barefooted.
At the height of the flooding in his division on Wednesday, Councillor Ian Myles (Jamaica Labour Party) spoke of the need for greater oversight by local authorities.
“I know the municipal corporation would have distanced itself from home burials and would not have been giving permission, especially in these areas which are water-prone and flood-prone areas. But, again, I want to say they need to be more stringent in their approach in terms of monitoring what’s taking place. Because with this flooded water, with the different septic [systems] and the graves, then that in itself for me is concerning,” he told the Observer.
Morris, who said there is nothing the health department can do until the water subsides, noted that the issue of backyard burials has been a challenge for years.
“It is a concern and it has been a concern for a number of years. In fact, the health department had mandated the municipal corporation several years ago to desist from allowing home burial in that area because we know that whenever it rains it is flooded,” he said.
“The issue of sanitation is also a concern because in stagnant water you are exposed to leptospirosis and other diseases,” the health official added.
Myles said the goal is to have the health department integrally involved in measures to be taken once flooding is no longer an issue.
“Sanitising is going to be important, the way people put back their places in order, because water would have run through some of these houses as well. We have insects of all kinds that are now infesting people’s homes. You have the rodents, centipedes, you have the roaches; you name it,” the councillor said.
“So support in terms of spraying and utilising chemicals which are not harmful to human beings; all these things are going to be important in helping the residents get their lives on track,” he added.
Fiona White, who lives on Bay Road in the area, is worried about some of the issues the councillor raised.
“I am scared because, normally, crocodiles always come up and a lot of ‘forty legs’ always would be swimming in the water,” she told the Observer.
Myles, who said he has never personally seen crocodiles, said other residents have also told him of sightings.
“Owing to the fact that McNeil Land is surrounded by rivers, it is quite likely that once the rivers overflow their banks, the crocs could also be a factor, and that also is a cause for concern,” he said.
He added that National Environment and Planning Agency has been notified.
On Wednesday, flood waters were almost 12 feet high in some areas and rapidly spread across several communities. Among the areas impacted were Bay Road, Broughton Road, Station Road, Top Road, McNeil Land, Egypt Gardens, and Paul Island.
During the day, as part of their post-Rafael assessment, Myles and Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Western Morland Wilson arranged to have a backhoe in the area clearing the entrance and exits to culverts that lead across the main road.
“We have gone through McNeil Land, where we have seen about 90 per cent of the homes under water, which is very tragic. We have seen where persons have suffered significant losses. I have seen a few farmers trying to rescue their goats and animals. We have seen as well where you have persons trying to relocate because the water has come up so high,” stated MP Wilson.
“Since the rain has stopped, that is when the flooding starts, and it’s basically a flash flood, because minute by minute, hour by hour, we have seen the water rising. What we have done is to get a backhoe to start to remove the silt and debris from the opening of the drains,” he added.
Wilson insisted that drains were cleaned ahead of the tropical storm but the heavy rains washed “several pallets and plastic bottles and all sorts of stuff” into the area, leading to blockages and flooding.
Other divisions within the constituency that suffered damage from uprooted trees and land slippages, alongside damage to the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) network, are Sheffield and Negril. These divisions are represented, respectively, by Garfield James, who was elected on a Jamaica Labour Party ticket and Arthel Colley, who is a member of the People’s National Party.
While government and other agencies are on the ground conducting an assessment, Wilson is asking people marooned and in need of assistance to call 1-876-314-4684.
