Derelict vehicles to be removed from Hanover’s streets

WESTERN BUREAU:

WITH fatal accidents across the island being a topic for discussion in all circles, and to eradicate danger for road users, the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) has made an appeal to the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) to remove all derelict vehicles from the streets across the parish.

Mayor of Lucea and Chairman of the HMC, Sheridan Samuels, was very emphatic in highlighting the dangers that those vehicles left along the roadways cause, especially in areas where the roads are already considered to be narrow. He argued that apart from being a traffic hazard in some areas, some of the abandoned vehicles pose health hazards and are being used for other nefarious activities.

“It is easy for persons in certain communities to use these derelict vehicles that are on the roadways to block the roads when they get upset about some simple things,” Samuels stated.

He mentioned a situation in Malcolm Heights, Lucea, where residents used a derelict vehicle parked along that thoroughfare to block the road during the Christmas season, when the area was being used as a bypass to avoid traffic congestion along the main street in Lucea.

“That vehicle has been there for a very long time. They have used that vehicle before to block the road for water. It is still there and they used it to block the road recently, claiming that too many vehicles are passing through the area,” Samuels stated.

Samuels, along with the other councillors, identified other areas such as Johnson Town, Miller’s Drive, Bachelors Hall, the Chambers Pen main road and Mount Piece as areas in which other derelict vehicles are parked along the roadway.

Western Hanover’s public cleansing inspector with the NSWMA, Andrew Walker, while admitting that it is the responsibility of his agency to remove those derelict vehicles, promised that immediate action will be taken to address the situation across the parish. He apologised for the non-action with respect to the removal of such vehicles, which he blamed on their non-functioning crane truck.

“I am going to have the enforcement team come and tag them (the derelict vehicles) and, if the owners do not remove them within a week, then we can act, as in removing them, even if it means hiring a wrecker,” he stated.

He said that his agency will be seeking the assistance of the police in carrying out the operation.