The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

PINEWOOD MP-elect Myles Laroda has said addressing long-standing flooding issues in the constituency is a priority for the Davis administration.

Mr Laroda, minister of state in the Office of the Prime Minister, made the comments during a recent interview with reporters.

“On the campaign, it was one of my key issues,” Mr Laroda said. “I would’ve spoken to the leader and I would’ve said on the campaign stump that the flooding situation in Pinewood is a priority for the next government which is now this government. I’ve gotten that assurance.

“There is a report that I received from the Ministry of Work that was pretty much detailed and I know several studies have been prepared with regards to Pinewood and not just Pinewood because Nassau Village is affected, parts of Seabreeze, parts of South Beach. So we would look at that with a view of bringing relief and putting that flooding situation behind us.”

In June, then Minister of Works Desmond Bannister said that the Minnis administration was committed to addressing the problems in Pinewood.

“This current budget has some $2m in it to... deal with this drainage challenge that was left to you in Pinewood, that you have been working so assiduously to try to do something about. We are seriously committed to Pinewood and to helping you deal with the challenges that have been there for decades that you are now dealing with,” Mr Bannister said in Parliament at the time, referring to the area’s former MP.

Pinewood has been prone to heavy flooding for years.

In 2013, then area MP Khaalis Rolle said a new drainage system for the area could cost the government as much as $13m.

He started plans for the new drainage system, however, the initiative was never carried out under the last Christie administration.

In August 2019, former area MP Reuben Rahming said more drains would be installed in the area, but warned drains are not a “panacea” for the issue. At the time, he estimated $10m was needed to address the flooding issue in Pinewood — money which he said could not be allocated at the time.