The Chief Town Planner Of Barbados Comes Under The Microscope If We Are To Examine The Cause Of The Tragedy at Brittons Hill In Barbados

Town Planning Office-Garrison, St.Michael

On Day 4 when recovery efforts stalled because of the need to stabilize the interior of the cave it provided cause for Barbadians to reflect on the tragedy which occurred at Britton’s Hill on the weekend. How could it have been avoided, or could it? We find it interesting that in the current BU Poll Barbadians appear to be divided on how the government has managed the tragedy to date.

In previous articles we have highlighted the roles of the Public Prosecutor, Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee; we think the Chief Town Planner’s role in the Britton’s Hill tragedy must be investigated as well.

Many Barbadians who have grown up in the area thirty or forty years ago have been contributing to the blogs their recollection of building practices back then. Today, after reading some of the comments on Barbados Free Press the consensus of opinion suggest that years ago residents of Britton’s Hill avoided construction on the area of the cave where the tragedy occurred. The obvious questions being asked post 26/8 must be__ has there been a departure from how construction is currently being done (in the area of the cave) when compared to the past?

A quick explanation could be a simple case of supply and demand. It is well documented that Barbados is currently suffering from an extreme case of land being sold at extraordinarily high prices. Somehow BU feel that it was more a case of good judgment being exercise by authorities at the time which was influenced by the local knowledge. It is not BU’s intention to engage in the blame game but we do subscribe to the notion that mistakes should be learned from and corrective steps adopted. The following quote from the Town and Country Act of Barbados Section 240.11 (1) is our attempt to bring some clarity to how such an incident might have been avoided and importantly to stop a similar tragedy from recurring.

11. (1) At least once in every five years after the date on which a development plan for the whole of the Island comes into operations, the Chief Town Planner shall carry out a fresh survey of the Island and submit to the Minister a report of the survey together with proposals for any alterations or additions to the plan that appear to him to be required.

The quote is written in simple language. The law obviously mandates the Chief Town Planner to perform a survey every five years which would influence physical development in and around Barbados. Commonsense tells us that the Chief Town Planner would have to be guided by feedback from rank and file Barbadians who would be privy to anomalies in their physical environments. In our lifetime, the BU household has never heard of any group of Barbadians having to relocate because the five year Town Planning Survey suggested some defects in the physical surroundings. But wait! When was the last time such a survey was done?

BU quote a commenter name “geographer” to illustrate the importance of the Town Planning Survey. Even if we assume that the cave’s surface was “safe” for construction at some point in the past, continuous assessment of the area is a must given the geology of the area.

I suppose a situation like this would have happened sooner or later. It could be a perfectly natural occurrence, precipitated by groundwater extraction, that is common in karst regions (any place with limestone geology, riddled with caverns like a swiss cheese). This process, called cave roof collapse, produces what we call a collapse-doline or collapse-sinkhole, and occurs when the cavern roof can no longer support itself. Sometimes this occurs due to a loss of pore-water pressure or bouyancy when groundwater is extracted, though they are other, more natural, causes.vther causes could be of a seismic nature, where construction, for example could set up tremors that could destabilise the cave roof. This particular collapse will likely be found to be due to a combination of factors. Most of the dolines in Barbados are solution dolines and are not as dramatic as this one. In Jamaica and Belize there are several spectacular collapse holes. This process of collapse is common in Florida and South Africa today, and sends up home insurance premiums.

Did the residents in the Britton’s Hill area communicate their local knowledge of the caves to the Town Planning department over the years? If this question is answered, who the cap fits will become apparent. BU investigation primarily based on feedback from residents of the area suggests that the Town Planning department are aware of the Britton’s Hill cave.

 

This being the case , we find the Town Planning department need to answer the big question. When was the last Town Planning Survey done?

Related Stories

Here is Barbados Free Press perspective in the aftermath of the Britton’s Hill tragedy.

Update:The Rescue Effort At Brittons Hill In Barbados Continues…NOW Changed To Recovery- (Barbados Underground)

Brittons Hill Barbados – Apartment Building Collapse Into Known Cave – Family Of 5 Trapped – US Miami Dade Rescue Team Goes To Work-(Barbados Free Press)

Barbados Apartment Collapse – Day 3 – Damaged Building Knocked Down, Work Continues-(Barbados Free Press)