Road destruction and road repairs happening simultaneously in Hanover

WESTERN BUREAU:

While some communities are expressing disgust with the damage to their roads by truckers transporting dumping material to a site under preparation for a new 2,000-room hotel in Hanover Western, the constituency’s Member of Parliament (MP) Tamika Davis is simultaneously announcing plans for new road repairs.

Speaking during the debate in Parliament last week, Davis revealed plans for several road improvement projects in the constituency, some of which she said have already been implemented.

Marvell Sewell, councillor for the Green Island division, where the hotel will be constructed, called for a meeting with developers of the Princess Hotel, the Hanover Municipal Corporation, the National Works Agency (NWA), and the MP, to address the road-damage concern.

However, in her presentation in Parliament, Davis made no mention of the concerns in Green Island, albeit complaining about scant regards paid to the road infrastructure over the years.

“For too long scant regard has been paid to our road infrastructure, and as a result, bad roads have historically been associated with the constituency. I stand here today to proclaim, without hesitation or reservation, that this will no longer be the case because change has come to Western Hanover, and work has already began in this regard,” Davis told the Parliament.

“There have been numerous road repairs across the length and breadth of the constituency – Kew, Mount Piece, Cacoon, and Middlesex – are only some of the roads that have benefitted. Road patching programmes have been executed with over four kilometres of roadway cumulatively patched,” added Davis, who further stated that the roads in Bachelors Hall, Richmond, and Lances River to the Lucea Infirmary and Traffic Examination Depot also received attention.

According to Davis, in addition to the road repairs, in May, over $2 million was spent from her Constituency Development Fund to carry out critical drain cleaning and bushing works across the constituency. The areas covered include Green River and Artwell. She said several new road infrastructure projects have been recommended and evaluated for full rehabilitation, and are currently at the procurement stage.

CRITICISM

But facing the wrath of the residents of his division, Sewell has publicly spoken out about the continued destruction of the roadways in his division by the truckers to the extent that he regrets supporting the construction of the hotel.

“Honestly, it’s a mistake I made to support the development of this hotel. If I really knew that the residents of Green Island were going to suffer so much I would not have supported it, and I am speaking from my heart,” Sewell recently told The Gleaner.

According to him, before the hotel project, the road from Silver Spring, where the marl quarries are located, to Green Island was in a good condition. However, since the trucking started, the roads in Santoy, Winchester, Salt Spring, Log Wood, and Wharf Road have fallen in disrepair.

In responding to Sewell’s concerns, Davis told The Gleaner that coming out of discussions she had with Gareth Bernard, NWA’s parish manager for Hanover, the developers of the hotel have given an undertaking to fully repair the damage.

“They (the developers) have said that they will be doing some routine maintenance work, but a complete fix will be done when the transporting of the marl is complete,” said Davis. “They have undertaken to ensure that it (road) does not get to a point that it becomes impassable.”