Potholes plea
Residents of Mount Oliphant in South Manchester are desperately crying out for the completion of road repairs in sections of the community, which is home to the JAMALCO bauxite company’s loading station.
Valerie Allen, a businesswoman of Mount Oliphant, told The Gleaner she has little hope the roadway will be fixed any time soon, as the conditions have persisted since she was a little girl.
“I feel bad about it, because a years now it stay like that, from mi small until now me a old woman. It’s like mi nuh have no hope fi see it fix before mi even get older. Mi have a vehicle and because the condition is very bad, if mi pay fi wash the vehicle I pay like $1,200 or $1,500 fi wash di vehicle. Now I am ready to go to Negril tomorrow and it is in the same condition as before like I never washed it because of the road condition and parts again fi buy. Is like mi can’t reach nowhere sake a di road. Mi stress out sometime ‘cause ah di road condition,” Allen said.
“If di road fix, di community can uplift man. Taxi not even come here suh regular because of di road. Residents have to pay all $1,500 sometime, because yuh haffi think about it say they could get a load go back to Mandeville, and sometime people have to walk because the condition is very bad. When dem guh do shopping, sometimes they don’t have any money to pay, so they have to walk with all that load,” she added.
As part of the conditions to JAMALCO commencing operations in Mount Oliphant, all roads in the community were to have been fixed. However, roadways were to have been fixed from Asia to Manningsfield, as well as the lower section of the Mount Oliphant community, but a large portion remains untouched.
Hugh Harding, a retired farm worker from the community, he is calling for the Member of Parliament Robert Chin.
“Something has to have to happen man. We can’t live our life like this,” Harding said.
Joan Foster, a community member who was born in the 1960s, said the road has been in a terrible state since she was a little girl.
“It has been like this for years because I born come see it like this. Everybody is affected. The children can’t walk comfortably to school; taxis do not want to come in the community, because of the road,” she told The Gleaner.
However, Cyrus, a 20-year-old construction worker, expressed optimism that the roadway will eventually be fixed by the relevant authorities.
“Mi no tink round here a go tan so forever. A jus’ time do things eno, man. Di road ‘round ya bad, man. ‘Round ya no good. It inna bad condition, man. It waan fix up in Mounty, some parts of Windsor and the road to go farm, deso,” he said.