O’Meally, St Catherine, residents take roadwork into their own hands
Published:Tuesday | August 13, 2024 | 12:06 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
When Hurricane Beryl was on a path to Jamaica, residents of O’Meally in St Catherine knew that whether it hit or passed the island, a section of their main road would have broken away, so they prepared in advance to repair it.
The cry from residents about the breakaway is nothing new. They aired their grouses in a previous Gleaner article in October 2012, and to them, the situation has only got worse.
According to them, during the last 12 years, that one specific section of the roadway has collapsed, taking with it two shops, graves, and a section of the community, which was once a chill-out spot where they would gather and host parties on the weekend. From that area, they also have a wonderful view of the neighbouring mountains.
Amid their cries during the past two decades, to councillors and members of parliament who they voted into office to represent them in St Catherine North Eastern, they say that their cries have either always fallen on deaf ears or the situation is just out of the powers of those duly appointed to address them.
The most they have received in help over the years, they told The Gleaner, was 100 bags of cement from a previous councillor.
In 2012, citizens told The Gleaner that although they constantly highlighted the erosion of the road and the adjoining property, the then leadership of the St Catherine Parish Council and member of parliament Gregory Mair did little to assist with renovating the road.
In 2024, they say the responses were similar from their current councillor, Correl Davis, and member of parliament Kerensia Morrison.
During a visit to the community last Thursday, a section of the road, which has been reduced to a single lane from the previous two lanes, was under repair by the citizens, who said they started the work themselves after the passage of Hurricane Beryl.
Bags of cement were seen stored in a shop along the O’Meally main road and located immediately across from the main section of the breakaway. The residents told The Gleaner that they merged their own funds to purchase those bags for more work to take place on the road.
“In 2002, it start break weh, and we start fix it wiself from dem time de. See, a one lane left and we a try save it. We affi a save di one lane by wiself. A we affi put together and buy dem de [the cement]. We still want more cement. We want stone ... . We build dis alone fi wiself. Nobody naa come up come help we, and when we talk, dem a seh we nuh ask dem fi help, and we done ask dem fi help,” one resident, who only gave his name as Jeff, told The Gleaner.