By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

THE government has spent nearly $40,000 clearing a critical manhole at The Pointe without any contribution from developers, according to Works Minister Desmond Bannister, who addressed severe flooding in the downtown area.

The Bay Street area experienced significant flooding last week from The Pointe in the west to just before the Paradise Island bridge in the east.

In a communication to the House of Assembly, Mr Bannister pointed to the blocked manhole, or inspection chamber, as a contributing factor to the flooding. He said it has been continuously blocked due to the placement of quarry over it by The Pointe developers.

Mr Bannister continued: "From Bay Street & Victoria Avenue to Dowdeswell Street, the pipes that convey the water from south to the north side of Bay Street are compromised. There are various utility infrastructure in the channels thus restricting the flow which leads to a back-up in the system."

Other factors were trash, which impeded the flow of storm water, and the intensity of the rainfall.

Mr Bannister advised that the ministry will develop a scope of works to have all lateral drains in the area impacted to be water jetted, and the installation of additional lateral drains across Bay Street.

"For the long term," he said, "the Ministry of Public Works will liaise with the utilities to work out the logistics for the installation of larger pipes which may involve the decommissioning of some of their systems."

Yesterday, Mr Bannister gave an account of Bahamas Power and Light's restoration efforts on the islands impacted by Hurricane Irma.

While work on all islands are expected to be complete this week, Mr Bannister said there was presently no estimate of when repairs will be completed to the network on Ragged Island.

The passage of Hurricane Irma impacted power distribution in Rum Cay, Mayaguana, Long Island, Long Cay, Inagua, Exuma, Eleuthera, Crooked Island, Bimini, Andros, Acklins and New Providence.

Mr Bannister said: "Significant damage to the distribution system was reported in Ragged Island. BPL continues to coordinate with NEMA and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force on the way forward for Ragged Island. The defence force, Ministry of Works and other agencies will commence work in Ragged Island later this week to deliver equipment, clear debris, and conduct cleaning/elimination of waste.

"The defence force will also construct temporary housing to be used by themselves and other agencies including BPL during the restoration," he continued.

"Once initial preparations are completed, BPL will send the necessary teams, vehicles, equipment and materials to the island in order to commence the reconstruction of the network."