Mayor of Kingston and St. Andrew, Councillor Desmond McKenzie, has said that it will cost $575 million to repair roads in the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) network that were damaged during the recent heavy rains.

The Mayor, who was speaking at a KSAC roads and traffic meeting held on October 24 at the council's Chamber downtown Kingston, said that the Council is seeking $68 million to effect repairs to a number of crucial roads.

"We are seeking $68 million in emergency funding to make what we call important link roads in the municipality accessible. We don't know how much of that $68 million we are going to get but the roads we have identified are crucial roads that have a serious effect on the movement of traffic in the city," the Mayor said.

He said that the Council is in the process of compiling a detailed assessment on the state of all the gullies in the Corporate Area. "I still maintain, and I saw it for myself, that 98 per cent of our gully network in the municipality is in need of repairs," he told the meeting. Once the assessment is completed, he said, it will be presented to the Prime Minister.

Turning to drains, the Mayor said work has started to assess drains within the Corporate Area and recommendations will be made by the KSAC to the Prime Minister, as to how best the drainage system can be improved.

The Mayor indicated that a drain cleaning programme is not in place at this time, as the Council's main focus is to make the roadways accessible after the heavy rains.

"We undertook some emergency work in certain sections of the Corporate Area but there is no drain cleaning programme going on. We responded to the needs where we had to make the roads accessible to vehicular and pedestrian traffic," he explained.

During the heavy rains, several drains and gullies were flooded as a result of blockage by tree branches and solid waste. Several persons were also forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in shelters.