‘Don’t forget us, please!’

AMID BILLIONS of dollars now being pumped into road development projects in St Thomas, residents of Windsor Forest believe they are forgotten, with a section of their roadway which is on the brink of collapsing.

Based on previous publications, a section of the roadway collapsed during the passage of Tropical Storm Laura in August 2020, while other landslides took place in the community.

However, according to residents, the road and its culvert started collapsing two years ago, with now around six feet of the road’s width left.

Bushes have now grown around the area and hides the destruction, where a car crash could take place with motorists who are not aware of that breakaway.

Additionally, some meters away from this breakaway, a waterfall pours from its source into the road along Richmond Vale forming pools in the road, which residents have to walk and drive through to and from their commute.

When The Gleaner’s vehicle drove through the Richmond Vale district, Marcia Cummings, a resident, was ready to share her story with this reporter.

She ran behind the moving vehicle and shouted for the driver to stop, in an effort to have her voice heard.

Cummings told The Gleaner’s team that taxi operators either refuse to carry them, or they charge them “$350, $400 and $500 from Windsor Forest to Poor Man’s Corner because of the condition of the road”.

“Down by Windsor Forest (where the major breakaway is), dere so really need a basket, because the road has been torn off where the culvert is from the last heavy rainfall in November last year, almost a year now; and down below, where the water fall off the rock, the culvert is blocked up, so the water just took to the road, and the road is rugged up,” she said.

She further stated, “You barely find asphalt [on the roads]. It’s like you’re on the river side going to catch fish .So please, please let my voice be heard, and come and assist us in Richmond through to Windsor Forest through to Bethel! We need road from Ramble straight to Bethel!”

Other residents said taxis do not want to take them to and from their houses, and they oftentimes have to wait hours to get one.

RESIDENTS ON ALERT

One resident of Windsor Forest, Rochester Slater, who lives above the breakaway, said they are always on alert in the event that a visitor drives over into the gully below the section with the culvert that is broken away.

“It terrible! It can cost a life! A when someone go over dey and dead, a dem time de di Government a go tek it into hands,” Slater, 63 years old said.

He added: “Mi ongl see it fix from Errol Anderson days ... . That a from 2000, and early, early ... MP come here so with some road agency and we check seh it a fix already.”

His neighbour, Jason Watson, said he has rescued persons, and have to take the wheels of some drivers, mostly females, who are afraid to traverse the limited road space that is there.

“A whole heap a vehicle go inna it from wa day ya. All police vehicle drop inna it and a mi affi tek dem out; get help, and come draw dem out,” Watson, who has been living in the community since birth, told The Gleaner.

He pointed out that the section that is left has a crater which the residents have stuffed.

“A wi affi push stick inna it fi di people dem pass. I never see it fix from I grow up and tun a big hell of a man now. All di while mi hear dem seh, it a fix, it a fix. Di condition a di road, yuh can’t even believe. Di road bad and it a mash up vehicle, straight. Di road bad. Bare mashing up [of] vehicles,” he said.

The waterfall in the road at Richmond Vale, which is some metres away from the breakaway, has been a burden for residents.

Earl Paul, a butcher living in Richmond Vale, is heartbroken because his relatives refuse to visit him, given the poor condition of the roads which lead to his home and the breakaway.

He stood in a pool of water in his boots below the waterfall during his interview with The Gleaner.

“This is a disgrace. We family dem can’t come because dem car a go mash up. A no politician thing, but the man who responsible fi it, we a beg him, please and thanks, fi if him can help we,” Paul said.

“A over 20 year now it stay so,” he added.

Another resident and shopkeeper from ‘Bakery Gate’ in Windsor Forest, who refused to give her name, said the lack of proper roads results in the community not having WI-Fi service in their homes for their children to easily access online classes, because the Internet service providers refuse to venture in their area.

“Di pickney dem naa benefit from online class. Di pole de way up so, and when di pickney dem fi do online class, dem affi go a people yard way dung a Ramble, or dem affi go up inna di bush. So it more better if we get one pole or something, because we need better Internet service up here,” she said.

She added: “And a FLOW we use up here so, because Digicel nuh work up here so.”

When contacted Stephen Shaw, manager of communication and customer service at the National Works Agency, told The Gleaner that there has been a focus in the area by that Government agency.

“Our most recent work was in respect of a structure and road rehabilitative works in the community. Again, we were able to implement this bit of work due to support from the ministry. We do recognise that more is required, but we are not in the position to undertake same at this time,” Shaw stated.

He further noted: “We continue our efforts at improving the network through nearby communities, including Cedar Valley, Yallahs and Seaforth, through the Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Programme (SCHIP). Over $33 billion is being spent between Portland and St Thomas under SCHIP in improving the network in both parishes.”

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com