Government’s Drainage Division has been given a passing grade for works conducted during the last financial year.

According?? to Director of Drainage, Keith Barrow, his team completed some 18 new storm water wells and carried out maintenance on another 31, cleaned water courses and?? approximately?? 20,000 metres of drains across the country.

Mr. Barrow said plans were also on stream to complete another 20 new storm water wells and clean another 30 within the new financial year.

Referring to the clearing of Bridgetown drains, he stated: "One of the major successes in the last financial year was Operation Clean City, which will be repeated this financial year in collaboration with the Ministry of Public works, the National Conservation Commission and the Sanitation Service Authority."

Mr. Barrow cited the Brathwaithe’s Gap Canalisation Project in St. Michael and Phase One of the Sunset Crest project in St. James, which seeks to alleviate flood threats across Highway 1, as among the other key successes achieved in the last financial year, which ends on March 31, 2010.

"We are also proud of the work done in the clearing of the Constitution River basin???? which runs from the back of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) to the area behind the Globe Cinema. It was done twice between April and now, and we are expected to clear it three times within the new financial year," the official added.

He indicated they were also hoping to construct 3,500 metres of open box drains across the island, and that they were committed to completing work on the one near the QEH and The St. Michael School?? in Martindale’s Road. Mr. Barrow explained that these drains helped to channel run-off away from residential and commercial areas.

In terms of collaborative efforts, he pointed out that the Drainage Division was also devoted to continuing its work with the Town and Country Planning Development Office, with regard to development applications.?? It is also collaborating with the Coastal Zone Management Unit, in terms of Graeme Hall eco-systems and the sluice gate, and the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology on the Karst Sink Hole Project, which looks at their effect on the island’s water quality.

cgaskin@barbados.gov.bb

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