Urgent calls for Naylors Hill road to be repaired

NAYLORS HILL, Portland:

Users of the main thoroughfare leading to the Port Antonio Hospital are clamouring for urgent repairs to be done to the roadway, which is in a state of disrepair.

The roadway is heavily utilised by taxi operators, residents, workers at the hospital, and emergency vehicles and stakeholders are calling for urgent repairs to be done since the state of disrepair has worsened with the recent heavy rains.

But councillor for the area, Dexter Rowland, who won on a People’s National Party ticket, said that his hands are tied and that he simply does not have the resources to carry out such repairs which, according to him, will run into millions of dollars.

“It’s not a parish council road (municipal corporation) and, therefore, there is very little that I can do at this time to alleviate the plight faced by road users,” said Rowland.

“I have a little money, which was allocated to do road repairs from the council, but that can’t even touch that road. It’s a National Works Agency (NWA) road and, therefore, I am hoping that they will be able to address this emergency in short order. This is the hospital road and it cannot remain like this. I am hoping that this will be brought to the attention of the member of parliament, who has been working hard to fix roads in other communities.

“This affects every citizen in this parish, as this hospital is the first point of call for everyone and, therefore, this needs to be treated as an emergency. Taxi men are now complaining about their vehicles being damaged, and it must be rather difficult transporting the sick on this rugged surface. I am hoping that I will be able to sit with the MP and the NWA is short order to address this emergency,” Rowland added.

In responding to the call, MP Ann-Marie Vaz indicated that preparatory work for the rehabilitation of the Naylors Hill road in under way. Vaz, in a statement, pointed to the fact that the roadway has worsened since the passage of heavy rains brought by recent adverse weather systems.

According to the MP, the repairs are earmarked under the hot-mix patching programme and will involve the upgrading of 0.5 kilometre of roadway, which is expected to be completed in two weeks. The repairs are scheduled to begin this weekend, she said.

“This project is not only an infrastructure upgrade for the parish, but it is a much-needed form of support to improve accessibility to the hospital. Therefore, the road upgrade is heavily prioritised at this time,” Vaz stated.