Last Thursday the issue of flooding in Castries city reared its ugly head yet again as the island experienced heavy rains. Jason Hullingseed, communications manager in the office of the mayor, admits that while headway has been made in tackling the problem, there is still much work to be done.
“We do have issues with the engineering aspect of things,” said Hullingseed. “This is why, just a few days ago, Mayor Peterson Francis, myself, and our CEO Wilfred Pierre met with the Cuban Ambassador Jorge Francisco Soberon to see how Cuba can assist us with an engineer to help mitigate those situations of flooding within the city.” He described the discussions as preliminary and said further talks will be held.
Another factor that creates a major headache for Castries City Council (CCC) is the Saint Lucian pastime known as littering. The communications manager says that while city police officers do their best to make litterbugs accountable, more co-operation from the public is needed. This problem, unlike engineering, only requires citizens to take care of their surroundings. He encourages the public to make use of the many bins available throughout the city to dispose of waste.
Hullingseed advised that CCC had been working hard desilting drains around the city on a regular basis.“There was a time when the slightest rainfall caused floods in the city, but now, it takes a lot of rain for that to occur,” he said. “I think there’s still a lot of work that has to be done, however.”
The Styrofoam and Plastic Food Service Containers (Prohibition) Bill was passed by government in June and bans the importation, manufacturing, sale, use and distribution of Styrofoam and plastic food service containers in a phased approach. Hullingseed says that has had positive effect.
Also, CCC has its own programme, the Plastic Collection Project under which individuals can be paid $5 for every bag of plastic and Styrofoam waste. Visit CCC’s office to collect the needed bags and return them when filled. To tackle the issue of littering, Hullingseed says that enforcement and education work hand-in-hand. Per the Litter Act: a $500 fine or six months imprisonment is the penalty for littering a public place.”
