Portions of Pointe Michele road, sea wall collapse

Photo of the collapsed sea wall/road.

Dear editor:

As predicted “the next ground swell” has resulted in the collapse of the Pointe Michele sea wall and road during the rush hour this morning. Thank God no one was hurt. This leaves the houses exposed to the continuous onslaught of ground swells.

Could this have been easily  avoided if a few concrete mixer trucks loaded with Dominican resources (tarish) were available and mixed with portland cement to be poured into the hole?

Were a local company contracted would the villagers/home owners be left as they are now waiting for a Bajan company to arrive? Would it be too late?

Concerned Born and bred Dominican

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30 Comments

  1. Anonymous
    June 29, 2011

    I WAS born and raised in pte , mitchel this wall been there for ever it is time we the people build a better stronger wall widen the road like they did at scott”s head, and under the cliff from loubier to pte. mitchel, invest on rebuilding roads it is part of the tourist in dustry, and a better dominica stop the nonsense about moving the houses .

  2. vex
    March 23, 2011

    where de hell de pple going in all u house?????????????

  3. neutral
    March 23, 2011

    contract sign less than ah week ,whether local or foreign contractor nothing would of stop the work of nature ,and people stopd hate on the bajan company there name speak for itself threw out the caribbean remember they move the earth to please so no job too big or small for them.all who talking need to start snd applications and see if they cn get peice of the cake too

  4. fed up
    March 23, 2011

    yes something is wrong for sure

  5. fed up
    March 23, 2011

    did not go through

  6. dominican always
    March 23, 2011

    to some of hte people who suggested removing the houses lets not dwell on the problem but look for solutions the houses are there and the cost of relocation plus the road works maybe staggering a better solution would be to expand the road toward the sea like what is being done along the west coast that way the road is widened without the extra cost of relocation

  7. ON THE STREET
    March 23, 2011

    places like point michele ,mahaut and massacre the houses are too close to the road.the place is always congested man its always a mess in these areas.they should move the houses and enlargen the god damn roads.make good and big roads for people man .

    • Anonymous
      March 23, 2011

      maybe is ure mouth and ure poooosiiieeee that too damn big. keep massacre outta ure mouth trick

    • Arnold
      March 23, 2011

      what nonsense you talking there…. move them where leave them people alone eh… is government job to fix the road… so long that road dere need fixing… and about the congestion… that’s the fun part about driving in d/ca :P

  8. The Edge
    March 23, 2011

    I have come the the conclusion that Pte. Michel people must be a bunch of dummies. Every election you vote for a bigger dummy who can’t do anything for you. Am still suffering from post traumatic stess from childhood having to travel on that Pte. Michel road. The sea would be splashing up all over the our vehicle in bad weather and then having to squeeze on the edge so another vehicle could pass all the time hoping not to fall into the sea. You all know what I’m talking about. This is ridiculous, all cat and dog getting road. What happen to Pte. Michel? Put all you foot down man, enogh is enough. Chupes.

    • Dominican
      March 23, 2011

      What are you talking about? Are you in self denial amidst the staggering, unadulterated truth? Get Up, Wake up! There is a 22 million dollar project to fix up the problem. For fifteen years under the Dame (supported by Gustave, Bosso, and Baron) the road was not a priority because it is poor people who live in Pointe Mitchel. Imagine Eugenia (of Blessed Memory) a Pointe Mitchel native did not see a problem with the road for the fifteen years she served as Minister of Finance and PM. The problems of the road did not start seven years ago when Skerrit became PM. It started a very long tiem before Skerrit even thought he would be in government calling the shots.Today, Skerrit has made it a priority to the extent that a contract of $22,000,000.00 has been awarded to fix up the problem. “The Edge” wake up.

      • South West
        March 23, 2011

        Get ur faacts straight because The Freedom Party was the one who began the initial state of the sea wall and then when the uwp came the continued where the freedom party left off. I have facts because my cousin was the one from Pointe Michel who did the architectual and engineering work etc etc so get ur facts straight .

  9. Grand Bayrian
    March 23, 2011

    I think these houses need to be moved out of that area, period. I know that area, and that has been a talking point for years, and nothing has been done about these houses.

  10. worried dominican
    March 23, 2011

    these people need to move from the area, the wall should start where the road is existing now,then the road should start where the houses are,but these people are so arrogant about the whole situations,when mother nature strikes then they will blame the government.

    • Dcauk
      March 23, 2011

      @ Worried dominican I thnk you are the arrogant one. you taking about people home and not the safety of th entire south. where the houses are there is no problem.
      the dam road needs a revamp.

  11. stoic
    March 23, 2011

    these houses aregeting me mad. they need to be removed.

    • cyock
      March 23, 2011

      i support you one hundred percent i am from pte mitchel and have known this road for almost all my life and to my remenberance this road or this wall was build it the early sixties i do be honest thest houses need to be remove from there and put some where else

    • February 16, 2012

      Obviously the houses are not yours or your family’s eh stolc? :wink:
      Otherwise you would be getting mad at them for not moving the road further into the sea.
      you are a NOMB (Not On On My Doorstep) type of person it seems, eh :?: !

  12. Quasi Transparency
    March 23, 2011

    It is ironic how a lot of Dominicans do not insist that government be more accountability to serve ALL of Dominica. Today the RED CLINIC is scheduled to be reopened, and while my reference to this handout programme is to draw our attention to where the government priority is at present It appears that after a second term in office the members of government seem overwhelmed by the work that needs to be done. They are more inclined to respond to areas being pointed out by Lennox Linton et al. Now, keep in mind that Lennox is just a journalist who seem to have totally skewed the government functions in term of proactive services, and instead the government are in many instances reacting to situations. I believe that the time has come for the government to perform a postmortem to respond to issues like this road before the condition declines. Second, the fact that government ministers and other officials have a radio programme to respond to Lennox Linton et al on issues is troubling to me, because it suggest that a lot of time and effort is spent on the defense instead of addressing governing better by listening and making the necessary adjustments.
    This is our country and sometimes we are dogmatic in our approach and policies, and there is nothing wrong in taking a different course even it is a policy suggested by the opposition; this will simply suggest that the present government is open minded and mature. Now, if that approach is embraced I will certainly support such a party, but to simply stay in the mode of being defiant to show your opponent that you are inflexible is not being mature or smart. Let us aspire to this new period of open and mature thinking to really bring Dominica to the next level.

    • February 16, 2012

      Lets do like the chinese, volunteer our skills to Make Things Happen! Government is ‘democratically’ elected to represent us, not do it for us. Some of the ‘defiant’ people are reasonable and actionable if given a chance to shine. Government is not God…. help them as individuals. Party politics divides people and produces glory seekers who get paid for saying they will help! The public can get together to see what they can do! We are Dominican after all, a wonderful people. Dominica is a wonderful Island. Lets prove it!

  13. Hennessey on the rocks
    March 23, 2011

    my response is that pouring tarish and concrete into the hole would have speeded the colapse since the real reason why that portion failed is as a result of the overly battered concrete wall facing the sea. Upon pouring concrete into that hole i am pretty sure the wall wouldnt have sustained the weight of the concrete and who knows, at that very moment of the pouring the wall would have probably failed only to waist the concrete which would just flow into the sea. what a waste it would be!

    For those of us who dont know there is a science behind civil engineering where weights, forces, resistance etc are all calculated and taken into consideration to determine the type of structures required, designed, concrete strength, etc.

    So stop being ridiculous!! there is a chinese proverb which says that “you must think before you speak”. please consider it instead of being quick to bash.

    Thank GOD for his mercies.

    • .
      March 23, 2011

      tell that to Quasi Transparency

    • commentator
      March 23, 2011

      I agree. A proper sea wall has to have footings (foundations for the uninitiated). A koffer dam is needed to hold back the sea water and then the concrete can be poured after some large boulders are pushed into the dam area. By the way one can always use rapid setting cement to fill gaps where the sea is coming in. But I do not suppose that rapid set is available in Da.

    • pedro
      March 23, 2011

      Whether the Concerned Born and bred Dominican was on the ball from the Civil engineering point of view is less of the issue. I think the question is whether this could have been avoided and if not what are the contingencies going forward (particularly in exposed areas like this) until the project is completed? What about public safety?

    • cyock
      March 23, 2011

      very smart,statement

  14. Dominican For Life
    March 23, 2011

    I just hope the People of Dominica are paying close attention to this situation.
    Also the Government better don’t make the same mistake they did when they build the Soufriere Scott’s Head Sea wall defence.That mistake is not putting the Dowasco line behind the wall where it can easily be access.

    • dominican always
      March 23, 2011

      dominican for life are you serious thank god you are not an engineer cause you would cost dowasco millions puting the pipes behind the wall to be taken away by the sea

      • Dominican For Life
        March 23, 2011

        You need to understand what make sense.They need to put the pipe not on the sea side but on the east side of the road or some way they can have access to it if the pipe break.
        Think about it yourself my friend.Does it make sense to you now?????????????????

  15. pedro
    March 23, 2011

    Good idea. Unfortunately the machinery of government grinds too slow; and not enough forward thinking. On the one hand they would want to minimize major expenditure on this road given the civil works long planned. On the other hand, they should have recognized that the delays in starting the project due to bad planning will have consequences on the state of the road. Thankfully this road has been sort of spared from major sea damage. The question is what is the contingency plan for upkeep and exposure with the advent of the hurricane season.

  16. corruption 101
    March 23, 2011

    De 1t lesson in d book

    Where is it easier to pass under the table?
    Why did Jesus ask “should I give the children’s food to dogs?”

    She responded “the crumbs that fall off the table…”

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