Frustration boils over in Cavaliers

From as early as 3:30 a.m. yesterday, scores of angry residents in Cavaliers, St Andrew, reportedly began cutting down sections of the woodland and blocking the main road with felled trees and other debris to register their frustration at the poor road conditions in the area.

Roadblocks were mounted at several sections of the thoroughfare, spanning several miles, disrupting schools, business activities and commute.

By daybreak, the roadway had become inaccessible to vehicular traffic.

Although venturing out early and missing her medical appointment, one elderly woman told The Gleaner that she was standing in solidarity with her fellow residents of the St Andrew West Rural-based community as she lamented the deplorable state of the road.

“Mi get up from 6 this morning and when mi come out, the whole place block and mi can’t walk from here to Stony Hill,” she said.

“Mi sorry for di pregnant women dem who have to travel. Private car, taxi or bus is the same thing,” a male resident added.

“The road mash up the vehicle dem to. Look pon this yah part of the road ya. Look at it,” said another, pointing to a pothole-riddled section.

Classes at the Cavaliers Primary School were suspended for the day amid the mayhem.

One businessman from a section called Finger Post, which connects Mannings Hill, Parks, and Burnt Shop roads, said that his business was not greatly affected by the protest, but agreed that the road condition was bad – “with a capital BAD”.

He noted that the poor road surface had been damaging vehicles even as it took motorists longer to painstakingly navigate the thoroughfare.

“The condition of the road affects the turnaround time for JUTC buses,” he said, referencing the state-owned Jamaica Urban Transit Company, as three of its buses stood idle, trapped between blockages.

“It cost motorists who have to buy parts because the road is terrible. It would cost the Government far less to maintain the fleet. The road a mash up the bus dem,” he added.

Police teams from the Stony Hill and Lawrence Tavern stations visited the scene as a crew from the Stony Hill Fire Station cut large trees and removed them from the roadway.

“It’s a pity they had to deal with it this way. I would have hoped that they would have used the advent of technology, social media, to [get their message across],” Senior Superintendent Aaron Fletcher, head of the St Andrew Northern Police Division, told The Gleaner.

Some placard-bearing protesters had caustic criticism for their two-term member of parliament, Juliet Cuthbert Flynn, as they called for immediate action.

“Cuthbert Flynn spend some of the abortion money on the road. We need it,” one of the many placards read.

They have vowed to continue their protest if she does not respond favourably and quickly.

The member of parliament said that the protest was unfortunate, adding that she was contacted by several persons, who complained that they could not go to work. She said that some parents reported that their children were in tears because they had exams.

“I tell people all they time that I am very accessible, so they could have picked up the phone to call me to find out exactly what is happening,” Cuthbert Flynn said, while engaging some constituents at the Half-Way Tree Transport Centre.

“The roadway, I must say, is really in a deplorable condition. It is really in a bad state,” she admitted, adding that she traverses the roads daily and has been constantly lobbying for their repair.

She said that a procurement process was under way to have roughly 10 roads in the constituency repaired and that work should begin in this area by the end of May.

“I have to also say the pandemic has really caused us all great stress. A lot of the funding had to go into the pandemic and COVID-19 in various ways and so a lot of things that should have happened in the constituencies right across Jamaica did not happen in the last two years, so we are almost catching up at this time,” the member of parliament said, adding that the rainy season has not done favours.

“I’m just asking persons in my constituency to be patient. From Long Lane to Temple Hall, that is in the process for rehabilitation for some work to be done. From Stony Hill to Parks Road is also in train to be done. From Temple Hall to Lawrence Tavern and also to Glengoffe,” she said, naming some of the areas to receive attention.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com