HMC threatens legal action against NWC over dug-up roads
Published:Saturday | April 16, 2022 | 12:09 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE HANOVER Municipal Corporation (HMC) is contemplating pursuing legal action against the National Water Commission (NWC) because of the length of time the state agency takes to repair roads dug up to service water mains.
The councillors have been complaining repeatedly about the lack of performance of the NWC at each monthly meeting of the corporation. To compound matters, a representative from the NWC has not been attending the meetings to respond to the concerns.
On Thursday, Lucea Mayor Sheridan Samuels lamented the state of roads left dug up by the NWC in the town, adding that their unfinished work in the Johnson Town area was posing a danger to road users.
“Once again, we are not happy with the NWC,” Samuels said. “We have spoken about the section of the roadway going over the Riley Bridge leading into Johnson Town, on the left hand side leaving Lucea, that they have dug up from about three to four months now. It is still there and it is going to cause an accident.
“If you go there now, it is filled with water. The motor vehicles do not want to go inside the water; they are taking the right hand side and going into the middle of the road, and somebody is going to die there,” Samuels said.
He argued that even after the HMC, which he chairs, has written to the NWC to correct the problems, not enough is being to done to address the issues.
“Probably, we might have to sue them. Probably, we might have to get some legal advice as to how we go about doing that, but they need to be sued,” the frustrated mayor said, adding that it was counterproductive for the HMC to be fixing the roads, only for the NWC to dig them up and leave them without any resurfacing.
More leaks to be fixed
Samuels mentioned the intersection of Church and Hanover streets, leading on to Moosley Drive in Lucea, an area which was dug up by the NWC to repair broken pipelines and left unpaved for some time, but had to be eventually repaved by the HMC.
“The culvert was repaired and nicely paved. We spoke to the NWC, we quarrelled with them about them digging up the road and leaving it like that, in most cases with water running, and they do not fix it, and when they do fix it they leave the road unpaved,” he said, noting that even after the many previous complaints, there are now more leaks to be fixed.
Sandy Bay Councillor Andria Dehaney-Grant said it was now dangerous to traverse the Kew to Jericho roadway, where a NWC pipe-laying project has been under way for months.
The project has been halted for some time and recent rains washed out trenches where the pipes were laid.
She said that the journey along the three-kilometre stretch of is becoming increasingly perilous, especially at nights, as there is no light along the roadway.
HMC CEO David Gardner reported that the NWC has acknowledged receipt of the HMC’s letter, but the commission provided no further update.