Minister Meriton visits areas affected by heavy rains at Pointe Larue |27 January 2014

The Minister for Social Affairs, Community Development  and Sports Vincent Meriton on Saturday visited several residential areas in the Pointe Larue district which have been affected by last Friday’s heavy rainfall.

Accompanying the minister on the visit were Wills Agricole, principal secretary for environment and energy, the district’s MNA Jeniffer Vel, administrator Julita Adela, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Land Use and Habitat (MLUH) and of the Department of Risk and Disaster Management (DRDM).

The delegation’s first stop was at the Mirabel flats where flooding is always common during heavy rains.

According to Ms Adela, the area is in dire need of a better drainage system.  

“The volume of water coming from the rain gutters and surrounding areas quickly floods the compound resulting in the water entering the septic sewage tank. The residents have to walk in the water as there’s no other access path. This has resulted in some residents getting infected and falling sick and it’s a very frustrating situation for them,” Ms Adela said.

She also suggested that the flats should be connected to the main sewage system if possible to minimise the risk of infections in case of flooding.

“Drainage is still the main problem in our district,” she stressed.

From Mirabel flats the delegation went uphill in Nageon Estate to Joseph and Marinette Esparon’s residence. Part of their house was covered by a landslide following last year’s heavy rains caused by tropical storm Felleng.

With repair work on that part of the house nearing completion, Mrs Esparon informed the delegation that minor landslides do occur from time to time when it rains. She said this is because there’s an area further up where water flows down the terrace causing these landslides.

Minister Meriton informed her that work will  start today to build a retaining wall behind her house and that MLUH will redesign a system on top of the terrace that will prevent water from flowing down.

Another house that was also affected by the cyclone Felleng last year was that of Eveline Moustache.  A big boulder slid downhill during the storm, bringing down earth and mud water into her house. Although the boulder itself did not roll all the way down to the house, it has been perched precariously further above the house, posing a threat to the residents below. To prevent any misfortunes, the boulder will be blasted and a retaining wall built.
 
Minister Meriton said that since the disaster last year, work had started in different affected locations and is still ongoing and with all logistics and agreements having been finalised, work to build new retaining walls will start today and terraces will be stabilised for more substantial work later.

The delegation then went downhill again to the residence of Maxime Georges and his wife which is situated behind the Grosvenor House, opposite the Seychelles international airport. The couple had put sandbags to prevent water from entering their home.

“In less than one hour of rain the whole area is flooded. This is because the area has no drains to discharge the amount of water coming from the building’s rain gutter. We also get flooded by water coming from the gutter next to the SCAA car park that quickly overflows,” Mr Georges explained.
 
The house of Peter Payet, another nearby resident visited by the delegation, also encounters the same problem.

Further down on the plateau is the resident of Brian Stravens and his wife. Their problem is the constant flooding from an overflowing marsh further up behind their house when it rains heavily.

Minister Meriton said the district authority and private partners concerned should be engaged in discussion in relation to the flooding problems.

He also stressed on the need for house and building owners to seek advice when building walls and to have proper rain gutters that will eventually be connected to the main drainage system on the main road.

“This will help us to avoid dealing with the same problem year after year. It is for that reason all concerned government departments are onboard and we are making sure the evaluation work interact well with each other. Work on the different projects will definitely start today, be it retaining wall, drainage to ground leveling. This will be done in line with the availability of resources.

 Some projects will be done in partnership with the private sector,” Minister Meriton said.

Since the visit last year of President James Michel in the districts affected by cyclone Felleng,  around 1000 projects were identified .

Some work were delayed because some projects had to be re-looked into and also people affected did not contribute their share to the cost of their project.

“Now I am pleased to announce that early this year people had signed to contribute their share and work is getting started. The National Disaster Relief Fund contributes partly along with a contribution from the affected partner and government puts the rest if it is not enough,” Minister Meriton noted.

The DAs office has reported 12 cases of flooding and landslides in Pointe Larue during the last two days of raining but only the most serious cases were visited.

The accompanying photos show Minister Meriton and his delegation visiting some of the affected areas on Saturday.