Listen to Hubert - Sandy Bay resident believes he can fix flooding problem

While pleased with the development of their town, residents in Sandy Bay, Hanover, are hopeful for a solution to one major problem.

A section of the seaside village becomes impassable when it rains.

Efforts to contact Dave Brown, the member of parliament for Eastern Hanover, or Andria Duhaney-Dinham, councillor for Sandy Bay, were unsuccessful.

Horaldo Anderson, the man locals say could provide more information on the ongoing issue, was unavailable.

But one resident, Hubert Downes, 60, is confident that the problem can be resolved if the authorities listen to his advice.

Downes said the problematic drainage was the first project that Brown undertook when he came to office two years ago, but he argues that enough was not done.

"What he has done minimises the problem, but we still have a challenge," he said. "Geogra-phically, based on the gradient, the velocity and the flow of water that comes down still poses a major challenge."

He said the problem began when the road was constructed several years ago. The area was much lower then, but was elevated.

impassable

"Now, when we have a heavy shower, even where we are standing here is a huge pool, and the lower vehicles cannot pass until it subsides," said Downes.

With pencil and paper in hand, he illustrated how the drain should be designed to minimise the problem.

"I have offered my geographical knowledge of what could be done to minimise or prevent the back-up of water when it rains heavily," he said. "The speed of the water is a great problem and simultaneously creates this huge erosion problem and carries a lot of debris, but we will have the problem for generations if something is not done before it gets more costly."

Pressed on his qualification to provide such advice, Downes said he gained his ecological knowledge from his experience as a former employee of the Ministry of Agriculture and his geological studies up to the GCE level.