The material dredged from the St. John’s Harbour and dumped alongside the Perry Bay Road is one of the reasons for the severe flooding in the St. John’s Rural West constituency, says Richard Lewis, the United Progressive Party (UPP) Candidate for that area.
Photos and videos circulated over the last few days show the rapidly rising water, along with a large cluster of shrubbery and garbage, being carried along Parliament Street.
This is because the dredged material caused flooding in other areas that are not usually prone to flood, Lewis explains.
Lewis says that uncleaned drains, clogged with debris, were another factor that contributed to the flooding. This was evident not only in Rural West, but in many other constituencies where drains are not cleaned on a consistent basis, he adds.
The UPP Candidate, who says that a complete assessment is being done of the damage, speaks about other areas of the constituency that suffered from the high waters:
