Residents express mixed feelings about Adelphi becoming a satellite community

WESTERN BUREAU:

Residents of Adelphi and the surrounding districts in St James are of mixed views about plans to develop the community into a satellite township, a promise which was first made in 2011.

After the Member of Parliament for St James East Central, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, made the promise on Monday, saying such an initiative would bring infrastructural improvements and economic growth to the area, some residents treated the promise with scepticism.

Nicole Hamilton, of the neighbouring Goodwill district, rubbished the plan, saying the immediate need is for better roads and internet connectivity, which have been promised but has not come to fruition.

“That plan is far-fetched for the near future, as other infrastructure is of paramount importance, mainly much better access to roads. How can we get to these amenities with ‘donkey track’ roads?” asked Hamilton. “The cries of the people are not being heard, which includes calls for better roads, less water lock-offs, and less electricity and internet outages. Our area was out of FLOW internet for over a year and no representative has ever reached out to give alternatives or even to find out how it has affected homes, businesses and even children that sometimes need to do online classes.”

Dwight Johnson, of Chatham, another neighbouring district, believes the immediate plan should be to improve the existing infrastructure before focusing on the satellite township plan.

“Based on the current infrastructure and little to no improvement, I do not see this plan materialising anytime soon, if at all. The roads are in a terrible state, and there is no attraction here for tourists,” said Johnson.

However, Alecia Shaw, a resident of Lima district, which is located between Adelphi and Dumfries, welcomes the plan, pointing to the potential increase in job opportunities that will likely come to the area.

The original plan was intended to be spearheaded by the development of the Dumfries area, for which a plan was mounted on a billboard in that community’s square by Bartlett and the Housing Agency of Jamaica [HAJ] in 2011. At that time, work was projected to begin in 2012 with the construction of 125 housing lots at a cost of J$2 billion.

The development was expected to transform Adelphi and other neighbouring districts into a corridor for commercial and residential development, in addition to creating a network connected to Jamaica’s north coast.

However, the plan was shelved in 2012 following a change in government, though Bartlett retained his seat as member of parliament.

Speaking with The Gleaner on August 1, Bartlett said the development of the intended passageway through Adelphi to Salt Marsh, in Trelawny, is still on the drawing boards. However, he did not give a specific timeline for when that will occur.

“The difficulty with that plan for Dumfries is that it got overtaken by agriculture and divestment policies. We were hoping that in that policy, the area going out from the square would be earmarked for expansion and development of the Dumfries township, and then going southward would be reserved for housing. Unfortunately, the richest area for crop yield was in that area,” said Bartlett.

“The thinking remains, but what we are going to try to do first is to do our creation around the Adelphi area itself, with the highway structure we hope to have, that will really open up here, coming from Salt Marsh. I think it is a no-brainer that the Salt Marsh through Adelphi roadway to connect with the perimeter road is to be done, and should be done,” added Bartlett.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com