St Thomas communities mobilise

St Thomas communities mobilise
Published: Thursday March 12, 2009
Residents, including children, help with unloading stones from a truck for work being done at the check dams in Somerset, St Thomas. A check dam is a small temporary dam constructed across low-lying or depressed and often wet land or drainage ditch. - Contributed
Residents of Five in St Thomas, where banana was once the main crop, are now eager participants in a rural diversification project aimed at sustaining their livelihood.
The first phase of the project is rehabilitating and providing new check dams to deal with land slippage and flooding in Somerset.
The project is being implemented by the Women's Resource and Outreach Centre (WROC) with the support of the European Union, Christian Aid and the Rural Agricultural Development Authority.
Ground was broken last month for the construction of a check dam at the Fitzgerald Gully in Somerset and excavation work is already complete. The work was critical because heavy showers inundate Somerset with tonnes of soil and millions of gallons of water from two gullies, Fitzgerald and Church.
Great losses
Residents are often forced to abandon their homes and suffer great losses.
Although two check dams were built to address the situation, these have been damaged due, among other things, to the scale of the inflow of dirt and water and poor maintenance.
Community members will be helping to build two check dams closer to the most active areas of both gullies.
Construction will reduce the velocity of water run off and retard the movement of top soil down slope.
Workers for the project have been selected from a group of ex-banana workers as well as others who stand to benefit.
The work on the check dams is being implemented with technical support from the Forestry Department, Water Resources Authority and St Thomas Parish Council, said Claudia Sewell, coordinator of the project, operating from WROC's office in Morant Bay.
Improving living standards
Another programme, the rural diversification project, is expected to benefit residents of Trinityville, Johnson Mountain, Spring Bank and Mount Vernon.
It is geared at improving the living standards and quality of life of farmers, farm workers, their families and communities with a wide range of initiatives.