Spring Village residents ‘up in arms’ over bridge closure
Published:Thursday | February 2, 2023 | 12:05 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
Residents of Spring Village in Old Harbour, St Catherine, have expressed dissatisfaction with the limited to no information from the offices of the National Works Agency (NWA) regarding the status of the community bridge which was closed to vehicular traffic on September 23, 2022.
The Spring Village bridge takes vehicular traffic from the direction of Gutters, Old Harbour Road to the communities of Spring Village, Bamboo, Back Pasture and Worthy Park. Last year, the NWA reported that following routine inspections it was determined that the structure was severely compromised and a danger to motorists.
However, this closure triggered numerous inconveniences for residents of the farming community as it affects not only their lives, but also their livelihoods. One such inconvenience is the increase in fares for individuals relying on public passenger vehicles for transport to and from their homes.
Randy Finnikin, executive director of the Spring Village Development Foundation, told The Gleaner on Monday that a community meeting was held last Monday where residents were “up in arms” about the matter and had initiated a petition for information to be disseminated to the community members.
“We understand that an emergency has occurred but the information was not forthcoming,” he bemoaned.
He continued that on some occasions locals have had to resort to walking into the community and to their homes as there is a limited number of taxi operators who are willing to traverse on the alternative route, which is through Nightingale Grove, as the road was severely damaged and in need of rehabilitation.
The taxis that were in operation charged $300 from a previous $100 from the town’s square. For persons in their private vehicle, Finnikin stated that the travel time took as much as 30 minutes to exit the community.
“So, there are real constraints,” he said, adding that although the residents were not expecting the bridge to be up in the “next week, next month or next three months [the NWA] could do better in communicating”.
“Many walk in protest because they really don’t have it,” he added.
Stephen Shaw, communication and customer services manager of the NWA, informed The Gleaner that he remained hopeful that the agency will be able to get funding from the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation in fiscal year 2023-2024.
Shaw said that the area required for a new bridge to be constructed. The estimated cost of the development along with a projected timeline of completion was not yet established, and that there was a possibility that a private-public partnership would be forged for the bridge project.
In relation to the rehabilitation of the alternative route, Shaw told The Gleaner that a contract of $19-million was being executed but that the details of the kinds of work that would be executed on the roadway was not yet known.
Finnikin, who also serves in the capacity of executive director of the Spring Village Institute of Vocational and Professional Training, stated that with the economic challenges faced from the increase in fares, the institution’s student and teacher turnout has been impacted causing schools in the community to record its lowest numbers.
He continued that 50 per cent of the new students who indicated an interest in attending the vocational training school had not shown up, lamenting that the journey to travel to the institution was too costly.
Spring Gardens Primary School Principal Shernet Chambers told The Gleaner that her student population of 240 was halved in October due to the inconveniences.
“Because of the closure of the bridge it means that the students pay their fare and come without lunch or they stay home,” she explained.
After noticing this trend, Chambers said that the school has increased its efforts to encourage more parents to send their children to school as administrators take on the additional responsibility of ensuring that the students who use their lunch money to take taxi cabs are fed.
She said that among her students and teaching staff of 13 with a support staff of four, the alternative route caused them to be late for school.