PRESS RELEASE: iLand Resilience works on target for completion

The post PRESS RELEASE: iLand Resilience works on target for completion appeared first on St. Lucia News Online.

The OECS Global Climate Change Alliance/GCCA, through its iLAND Resilience works being implemented in Saint Lucia, are on target in terms of completion.

The completion of these projects is timely as it will serve as a major step for mitigation ahead of the 2017 hurricane season. The project which commenced in February in Corinth/Grand Riviere promises to improve the communities’ resilience to climate change by taking preemptive action with flood water drain ways .

The GCCA Project comprises of two gabion wall structures along the Corinth/Grand Riviere river and a drain wall along the Corinth field. Gabion walls constructed are aimed at retaining the road shoulders and the road infrastructure while the drain wall is intended to drain out flood waters from the Corinth roadside drains.

According to Civil Engineer in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Sherman Nelson, though not completed, the project is a proactive approach to disaster risk reduction given our vulnerability to climate change. He informed that his Ministry had observed that the road shoulder was being eroded due to continuous water action in the river, therefore, the project would ensure that the road networks remain functional during catastrophic weather events.

With climate change small island states like Saint Lucia experience more intense rainfall. This does not necessarily mean a higher quantity of rainfall over a long period but a higher a quantity in short space of time.

This is often the main cause of flash flooding and erosion to rivers. Mirroring projects like the gabion and the drain wall across the island can mitigate the socio economic impacts that come with climate change.