Residents in Pembroke South West face flooding, racing container trucks and lanes too small for emergency vehicles to access their homes Robyn Skinner discovered as she spent time listening to the residents of constituency 20 for Up Your Street.

The flooding of Mill’s Creek always gains a lot of attention — especially when it affects those not used to it.

But for the businesses and residents who call this drainage area home, the flooding is becoming too common an occurrence.

That’s why President of Bermuda Forwarders and a Mill’s Creek businessman, Toby Kempe is calling for a another look at Government’s 2004 report, Mill’s Creek Flood Mitigation study. He has a very basic economic reason for curtailing the flooding — it’s costing him days in business and nearly $10,000 to fix vehicles from the salt damage.

He said: “There is a very large catchment area that drains and comes out at this tiny channel.”

How often does the area flood?

“How often does it rain?” replied Mr. Kempe, “It’s bad. Right now they have a temporary fix in place.”

This includes a fix to the sluice gate, but more needs to be done including building the wall suggested in the study along the creek so waters are kept at bay.

Louise Jackson, the area MP, said: “All these businesses lose business because sometimes they are shut for days at a time.

“I know Government has done some things, but what needs to be done to totally correct this has not been done yet. Whenever it floods it’s a huge loss.

“The Government has a responsibility to the health and safety for people.”

It’s not just the businesses that congregate around Mill Creek Lane, but also the residents whose homes lie behind these buildings.

One resident said the degree of suffering depended on the strength of the rain. She added: “Whenever it rains. If we really get hard rain, it’s really bad. It will flood our driveway and once or twice it has gone into our shed.”

Her husband added that the problem was they can never plan anything in their garden because if it rains they could be submerged.

He said: “It’s getting worse since they put the buildings over there. When it rains and floods the neighbours cannot get out (of their driveway).

“It’s (the flooding) is a nuisance. I don’t know what they are going to do about it. If we plan something, and we do a lot of entertaining there, were have to cancel our plans.”

But while the Mill’s Creek area is struggling with too much water, other areas of this Pembroke constituency are suffering without access to water.

That’s because lanes such as ‘Between the Walls’ are too narrow for small emergency vehicles such as fire trucks, to access homes far from the main road.

On the other hand, Pitts Bay Road, which runs in front of ‘Between the Walls’, has become a barrier to residents hoping to escape their homes and go for a walk.

Large container trucks regularly drive along the road that residents and Mrs. Jackson contend are too small for them.

One resident, Robin Masters, said there was a real danger for them and for others in Bermuda who live on equally narrow lanes.

She added: “It cannot be the only road in Bermuda that is this small. The ambulance cannot get in. It’s absolutely ridiculous because there are other roads that are narrow. They are both commonsense and safety issues. It’s not about someone wanting something special.”

Mrs. Jackson stressed that it was not just a problem for Between the Walls but the entire Island and as we spoke on Pitts Bay Road a container lorry with a driver fixed to a cell phone drove by.

“That couldn’t better explain the problem,” added Mrs. Jackson. “The container trucks used to not come this way. I have put it out there before and one company called and said he had made his drivers go another way.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Works and Engineering said: “For many years the Ministry of Works and Engineering has received complaints from business owners and residents about the flooding of Mill’s Creek and the surrounding area.

“The Ministry is very concerned about this situation and, having listened to the complaints very carefully, are now seeking to implement a series of solutions based on recommendations from key technical advisors to address the flooding. It is our intent that these solutions be implemented in partnership with business owners and landowners for the mutual benefit of all stakeholders.

“The Ministry has prepared detailed design drawings and specifications for the installation of a significantly larger sluice gate to allow the water in the Pembroke Canal to drain more quickly during low tide. The design includes provision for a pumping station to reduce the volume of rain water trapped in the Canal at high tide and an eel ladder to allow migrating eels access to the Canal.

“In an effort to minimise the day-to-day flooding the old sluice gate has been replaced with a temporary sluice gate. This has greatly reduced the severity and frequency of the daily flooding by reducing the volume of seawater entering the Canal at high tide. However, the volume of water trapped in the Canal during high tides will not be reduced until the proposed solutions are complete.”

The spokesman said that under the Private Roads Improvement Act the Ministry could provide help to the landowners of properties bounding private roads whose roads are in need of repair.

“This may include situations where the width is narrow and does not easily accommodate emergency vehicle access. The Private Road Improvement Act determines what the Bermuda Government must contribute and what the residences must contribute towards the cost of the road improvement works. The Ministry has a long wait-list of requests for private road improvement works which, given the current level of funding and difficulty in securing landowner contribution, will take a number of years to clear.”

And in response to container trucks on Pitts Bay Road, the spokesman said: “The roadway is a tractor trailer truck route that gives access to storage and delivery areas on the west side of the City of Hamilton. In response to concerns related to excessive speeds of trucks the Ministry has posted the 35kph sign near the entrance to the BF&M building.

“It is anticipated that the truck drivers will adhere to the posted speed limit sign. Speeding vehicles on Bermuda’s roads is primarily a matter for the Police Department to address.”