St Andrew East Rural residents call for road repairs

Residents of the Hope River Bridge area, Constitution Hill, Dallas, and other communities in St Andrew East Rural are calling for urgent road repairs in their districts, especially along thoroughfares they traverse daily to get into the capital city.

The residents are urging Member of Parliament (MP) Juliet Holness to come to their rescue.

One of the disgruntled residents, Marcel Thompson, told The Gleaner that despite his calls for an early-morning demonstration in Papine Square on September 1 to register their frustration, only a handful of residents turned out and the protest fizzled.

He expressed concern that only a section of the roadway was repaired with concrete last month.

“We need better roads. The [Dallas] road has not been fixed since 1996. Our MP, Juliet Holness, she has not done anything for this division … and we need some answers,” he said. “You don’t belong as an MP if you can’t give we road! Simple as that!”

He continued: “Our people here, we pay a lot of tax. ... We pay taxes on everything … and as we were told, based on your finance minister, we have a $3 billion in reserve. Give us a $200 million and fix the road, and in no time, that will create income. It will create viable income for everybody. Give us some road.”

At the 10-mile landmark column between Dallas and Kingston, Thompson showed The Gleaner a breakaway a few metres away from two years ago that is in need of repair as residents fear it could worsen.

On Thursday, Holness told The Gleaner that she was not for placing concrete roads in some parts of the constituency.

She pointed out that apart from the fact that concrete causes the asphalt to deteriorate, permission has to be granted by the National Works Agency before the construction of such roads.

“Where I do concrete roads now, I do it purpose-built,” she explained.

“It is built to take water across the road or [where] it is steep and it doesn’t allow for proper drainage, so the volume of water that moves down that road literally erodes [it],” said Holness, who spearheaded the construction of a concrete road in Taylor Land in 2021.

She said that Cement also assists with a constituency project annually, and the company is mindful of where concrete is laid for roads.

“If you look at all of them, you’re going to see some steep roads,” she said. “So we’re doing piece at Mavis Bank, and the only piece of road that we [decided to lay concrete] is the very steep corner that comes down.”

The second-term parliamentarian told The Gleaner that despite the complaints, there are roads projects under way in the constituency and that main roads are being given priority.

Holness pointed out that some of the roads in need of repair do not fall within the boundaries of St Andrew East Rural.

“Cane River Road is my constituency, and Cane River Road is slated for repairs. It is the only road that I have had approved for improvements for this year. I have been trying for quite a while,” Holness said, adding that she has also been seeking assistance for road repairs outside of government support.

“I’ve gone to the Spanish government to get help. I’ve gone to get private help,” she said.

With regard to Constitution Hill, Holness said she has no guarantee as to when that thoroughfare, which was repaired in 2016, will get attention.

“There are many roads in despair for some 40, 50 years and we have gotten to a lot of them. There are still more,” she said.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com