BY DESTINY JOHNSON
Journal Staff Writer

The Ministry of Works have acquired new heavy-duty equipment for continued road
maintenance and flood mitigation for the first time in over 20 years.
Minister of Works and Utilities Alfred Sears said the road equipment cost a total of $400,000.
“This is the first time in 20 years I’m advised that the ministry has gotten a large inventory of
tools to deal with road repair, road redevelopment and behind me, we have a 426 backhoe, a 375
air compressor as well as a skid steer, and these are vital tools,” he said on Monday.
“Currently, the ministry relies on a number of contractors, but there needs to be the capacity
within the ministry itself so that it could be more nimble.
“It can respond to emergency needs much more quickly and efficiently, as well as utilizing the
road contractors.”
In addition to the machines, the ministry has also hired 25 additional staff for road construction.
“Young people, who will have an opportunity to pursue a career in road construction and they are
currently deployed, working with our engineers who are present, such as Mr. Francis Clark and
also Mr. Moxey, with respect to the flood mitigation area, so this is a critical turning point in
terms of building the capacity of the ministry in this in these two important areas,” he said.
In terms of flood mitigation, the ministry has also invested $700,000 into pumps for low lying
areas prone to flooding.
Senior drainage engineer Henry Moxey said the pumps can move 1,000 to 1,500 gallons of water
per minute.
“What I must note, is that this is the first in a very long time that we have actually made such an
acquisition as it relates to pumps, you would see here in the background,” Mr. Moxey said.
“If I may point out, this is one of seven pumps that were procured with the intent on addressing
some of the flooding concerns that we have here on the island of New Providence.
“We’re hopeful that with this acquisition and with the use of them here on New Providence that
this similar process would be actually replicated on the Family of Islands.”
Mr. Moxey said his department is seeking to target areas like Pinewood Gardens, The Grove,
South Beach, and the East Bay Street area.

These pumps will be in full operation as early as next week, but he emphasized that they are only
a temporary fix.
“So, we have been looking at new systems in place just a few that we’ve already been looking at
along Bay Street,” Mr. Moxey said.
“Bay Street has its attached directly to the ocean, so whenever you have a tidal impact, it actually
brings water back into the system.
“So, what we have here on that truck to the back is a system that we have begun to implement in
areas that are prone to flooding so that we won’t have to be impacted by that.
“What I have here in my hand is what you call a whopper valve. It’s a title backflow valve. What
this does it allows storm water to not pass through and come up into our drainage infrastructure.
What this does is it suppresses the high tide, but it allows storm water that is already in the
drainage infrastructure to pass out and out fall where it ought to go back into the sea or whatever
drainage out fall point that we have.
“So, we’ve begun to use them in areas like the Pinewood Gardens, we’ve installed some in the
Gleniston Garden area, in the West Grove and in the Over the Hill Grove area.”
Mr. Moxey asserted that this new equipment has been thoroughly researched and they are
proving quite effective in the areas where they are already installed.