Barry residents call for roads, water

Dilapidated road conditions and the absence of piped water have stoked feelings of neglect among the residents of Barry district in St Catherine West Central.The Barry road is a corridor linking Point Hill, Bog Walk, Mendez, and Spanish Town, and is heavily trafficked whenever the Bog Walk gorge is impassable.

Residents like Diana Morris are clamouring for infrastructural investment to foster growth and development of the rural community.

“We need water, we need proper roads, we need a community centre. We also need to have Internet,” Morris, an early-childhood practitioner, said in a Gleaner interview on the weekend.

She is also advocating for a playing field to be established in the community.

Currently, residents of Barry journey to the neighbouring districts of Cameron, Content or Kingsvale, said Tyrone Spence.

There have also been complaints about the absence of a reliable taxi service, overgrown bushes lining the roadside, and a shortage of designated bus stops.

Navigating the road, made narrower by the overgrowth, and potholes is an ordeal.

A motorist put the road condition in perspective as he brought his vehicle to a halt along the rugged path.

“This is one of the alternative routes, but it has to be a road first. This looks like a beaten track which needs urgent attention,” Anvil Porter said.

Ray Brown drives for miles on his motorcycle in search of potable water - an arduous task he wants to abandon.