Sandy Gully race against time
De-silting efforts under way in attempt to clear path, limit rain water overflows during storm
Published:Thursday | October 23, 2025 | 12:07 AMKaren Madden/Gleaner Writer
A major de-silting of sections of the Sandy Gully in St Andrew got under way yesterday morning in a race against time as Tropical Storm Melissa meanders towards Jamaica.
Works Minister Robert Morgan, Member of Parliament (MP) for St Andrew Western Anthony Hylton, and Director of Communications at the National Works Agency (NWA), Stephen Shaw, were on hand in the gully as heavy-duty equipment cleared mountains of silt, trees and other debris just under the Spanish Town Road Bridge in the vicinity of Riverton City and Weymouth Drive.
Morgan told reporters the measure is aimed at protecting one of the country’s major assets and to ward off the ripple effects if it is damaged as a result of what forecasters are predicting could be hurricane conditions.
“What we are doing here is a temporary measure. It will not solve the problem that faces the gully. That problem will be solved by the major capital project that is going through the process now,” Morgan said.
“There are other sections of the gully that span different constituencies that have seen the undermining of the gully and the collapsing of the wall. We are very much aware of these issues.
“The NWA has done a detailed assessment of the gully; we have also done drawings and designs to do remedial work. We are going to be doing some remedial work shortly outside of the major capital project. That is to come, to look at the most critical areas that are under threat. But right now our main focus is to be prepared for what could be a very damaging storm and to protect life and property by protecting this bridge, which is spanning the major artery heading into Kingston.”
In the meantime, Hylton voiced concern for residents and businesses along what is the largest gully in the Corporate Area.
“The extent of the problem is way beyond this. Upstream, the invert (gully floor) and the sides have been torn away. People are directly in the path of the water; businesses are directly in the path of the water,” the MP said.
Hylton noted that he had indicated to the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) that the site where it stores poles to be used as replacements, in the event of hurricane damage to infrastructure, could be directly affected as well.
“I fear and hope and pray if Melissa comes we don’t have the kind of damage that I apprehend could happen to JPS’s site, and to the people on the banks of the river and downstream,” he said.
The MP added that he believed the bridge faces an immediate threat from forested areas downstream that result in water not running off and, instead, getting backed up, leading to overflows of the gully banks that would threaten the community of Seaview Gardens.
Shaw admitted that several other areas of the gully required attention, but that the Spanish Town Bridge project was deemed urgent at this time.
“Right here, today, what we are seeking to do is to ensure that the excess debris that is in the vicinity and beneath the bridge, we remove as much of that material as possible so that the free flow, which is the space between the invert and the bottom of the bridge, is greater,” he explained, noting that this would allow the infrastructure to adequately cope with the amount of storm water expected during the passage of Melissa.
Morgan conceded that the unplanned de-silting of the gully was racing against the imminent threat.
“Usually, we de-silt the Sandy Gully whenever a rain event is about to come of a major intensity. The fact of the matter is that the Sandy Gully and its tributaries carry debris from all across - not just the debris that is not supposed to be in the gully. If you look, part of what you see is silt and sand because it is carrying debris from St Andrew, from all over Kingston - we are gonna have sediment accumulating. The sad thing is that over the years, we have not had the resources to properly clean the gully, which is why we have allocated several billion dollars to ensure that that happens, not only to fixing the invert and fixing the side walls.
According to Morgan, resource constraints have hampered the ongoing maintenance of the gully.
“We had to find emergency funding to ensure that the water and debris can move under the bridge, because if this bridge goes, then it’s gonna be a significant challenge, not just in terms of people traversing from Kingston, or even to the ports, but also the economic damage that it will cause to the country. There is a bigger plan to fix it, but we had to do something before the storm.”
The Sandy Gully is approximately 20 kilometres long, running from Benson in St Andrew, snaking through several communities and going under the Spanish Town Road Bridge before emptying into the Kingston Harbour.