A post-Fabian coastal erosion study has found poor building practices in some South Shore areas.

Jamaican consultancy Smith Warner International, which was commissioned in July to conduct the Island's first coastal erosion survey, have this week been examining the impact of Hurricane Fabian on coastal areas.

The project team includes a coastal engineer, an environmental engineer, a geologist and a hurricane specialist.

A report which will contain a series of recommendations to the Planning Department should be completed in the next two weeks.

At a press conference yesterday project leader David Smith (pictured) said that said that some poorly designed or constructed sea walls and defences had crumbled under Fabian's fury.

But others had held up quite well, he said.

"The sea walls that went down did not appear to have a proper foundation," he said.

And pointing to one coastal property which had survived Fabian's ravages while an adjacent property was severely eroded because it did not have a similar defence, he said a community approach, as opposed to a "sporadic" one was needed when it came to sea defences.

Asked if his group would be recommending more stringent planning regulations for constructing homes in high risk coastal areas, Dr. Smith said that the issue was important but part of a longer term study.

In the meantime he would be recommending planning guidelines for designing sea walls and sea defences.

"We anticipate that the department of Planning would be inundated with applications for sea walls," he said.

He pointed to one house which had been built some ten feet away from a 60 foot cliff. "That is a very dangerous situation."

The team has spent much of its time this week looking at South Shore properties. It has visited some of the major hotel sites and will look at the remainder by the start of next week.