As the days go by, more and more of the horror stories experienced by Jamaicans during Tropical Storm Gustav are hig-hlighted.

As these stories are high-lighted, it becomes clearer that recovery will be a long and difficult task.

On Thursday THE STAR car-ried a story about some residents whose homes were damaged during the storm by the Wag Water River. The recurring trait among these victims was that they lived close to the river.

Similar stories of destruction have also come from people in other communities such as Tavern and Gordon Town. The fact that so many persons from different communities were affected by the same issues points to a serious problem. When Hurricane Ivan came in 2004, several residents had similar experiences and the Government, at that time, said that it would put measures in place to ensure residents do not live in or near river beds.

Fast forward to 2008 after Gustav, and the problem remains the same and this Government's response is the same. The question is, whether the response will be put into action this time.

While some citizens chose to take serious risks by living in or near a river, the Government has a responsibility to prevent them from doing so. Whenever these people suffer loss during storms, the Government has to scrape together millions of dollars to help them and the rest of the island to recover.

Lessening the damage caused by these disasters can save the country money, and ensuring that people do not live in problem areas is a sure way of minimising this damage.