Jack bulding detention dams in POS to stop flooding

Jack Warner has a plan to deal with flooding in Port of Spain.

The Works and Transport minister is planning to build detention dams close to the Queen’s Park Savannah. 

A detention dam minimises the impact of flooding and restricts the flow rate of water from a particular channel. The water can be held in place for a while and then released to help the groundwater system. Some detention dams are designed to trap sediment.

A sudden deluge created chaos in the city this week, leaving thousands of people stranded. Parts of the suburban areas of Woodbrook and Morvant/Laventille were also flooded. 

Warner spoke to reporters about the project Friday during a site tour of a project in the Maracas Royal Road, St Joseph, area. 

The minister said he is convinced that retention dams close to the Queen’s Park Savannah is the only solution to the flooding problem in the city. 

“You have to have detention dams and you have to put these dams up close to the Queen’s Park Savannah, that area...What is happening is that the water is coming down quickly and (at) high tide, the water has no where to turn.

“So though you clear the drains, as we have done; though we are desilting the rivers, when the river comes down quickly there is no place for it to go with high tides, so one solution would be detention dams in and around Port-of-Spain to contain the water,” he said.

Warner did not say how much such a project would cost. However he did say that cabinet has approved additional funds for emergency works.  He plans to use some of the money to deal with the flooding problem.

The minister explained that the allocation is also for repairs to the Solomon Hochoy Highway, which has suffered heavy damage due to unusually heavy flooding this year in the areas near the Tarouba Link Road and the San Fernando bypass. 

Warner admitted that the road repair project is a challenge for his ministry. “We have a host of roads to fix but the thing is everything has to be done at once and its coming down like a flood...In no way at all, we have been prepared for this situation,” he said.