Families may have to move

President of the Joint Consultative Council (JCC) for the Construction Industry Dr James Armstrong says that in the future, government may have to look at relocating people from flood prone areas.

Armstrong said future policies may have to consider relocation where flooding is really severe and he does not believe people will be going back into a single family unit but more likely high-density housing. He said we do not have the land for relocation to single family units and it would also be in conflict with the agricultural policy for increased food production and security.

He said with major development in flood prone areas people may have to move out. Armstrong said people were clearly not insuring their buildings and because of the flood prone area where they live they would not receive insurance. “As soon as they get flood out they turn to government and say ‘I am flooded out and help me.’ Government cannot keep doing that.”

He was responding to reported statements made by officials of the Town and Country Planning Division on Friday that recent flooding may lead to a re-examination of where people can build and the type of structures. The officials also spoke of a possible return to zoning and possible retraction of some land use policies regarding permission for residential buildings.

Armstrong, speaking during a telephone interview, questioned if you have new policies with zoning and no more development in certain areas but people are already in the areas. “The question is what are you going to do with those people? It is a bit of dilemma and something we need to look at.”

He said the areas prone to flooding have been known since the 1984 National Physical Development Plan was done. He said the recommendation and policies from the 1984 plan had not been taken into consideration and either people were building without permission in these areas or if they were getting permission whoever signed off on it was not paying attention to what was stated.

Armstrong said the areas that are flooding now were by and large already determined in the 1984 plan. He added the flood prone areas were becoming even worse because drainage had not been taken care of and there were a lot more buildings which meant a lot more run off.