Cops believe Lucea’s pothole-riddled roadway slowing them down

Western Bureau:

Acting Superintendent of Police Andrew Nish, the police commander for Hanover, has joined the growing list of persons calling for the authorities to repair the roadway in Lucea, which is riddled with potholes and leaking water mains, causing stressful situations for motorists and pedestrians alike.

During the July monthly meeting of the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), Nish pleaded with the corporation to do what it can to remedy the conditions on the roads leading to Lucea and Hopewell, the other major township. According to him, police personnel are having a hard time controlling the traffic flow through the two towns because of the bad road conditions.

“We are talking about some huge potholes, which also leads to a pile-up of traffic,” said Nish. “The water flowing on the driving surface along both main roads is also a recipe for disaster.”

Nish said he contacted the National Water Commission (NWC) about the water flowing on the road surface and the utility company responded and remedied the situation. However, within a few days, the water began flowing again.

“This [potholes and leaking water mains] has huge implications for the smooth flow of traffic in both towns and is also critical for commerce and general activities,” said Nish.

In addition to Nish, persons travelling from Negril, Westmoreland to Montego Bay in St James and vice versa, including visitors to the island, regularly reel off horror stories about missing appointments and being trapped on the road because of the traffic snarl which sees a 45-minute drive taking more than an hour and 45 minutes. Some of those persons have missed their flights out of the island.

“I had to replace the front-end parts on my bus, costing thousands of dollars, just three weeks ago, and right now I am hearing rattling sounds under my bus, which means something has gone bad under there again,” a public passenger vehicle (PPV) operator told The Gleaner earlier this week.

The controversial traffic crash on Independence Day, involving Custos of Hanover Dr David Stair and senior justice of the peace Alvin Jackson, which is now a court matter, is believed to have been caused by pothole-riddled roads in Lucea. Jackson’s car crashed into the custos’s vehicle when the latter stopped to allow other vehicles to negotiate the potholes.

In responding to blame being heaped on the HMC and the National Works Agency (NWA) for the failure to repair potholes, Lucea Mayor Sheridan Samuels, who is also chairman of the HMC, said the fixing of the pothole-riddled Lucea main road is not the responsibility of the municipality, but that of the NWA and the member of parliament. He said the HMC does not have the resources to have that kind of work carried out.

“I am wondering why it is taking them [the NWA] so long to fix this thoroughfare. People have to go to work and do other business, tourists have to move around, and the whole situation is a major setback,” said Samuels, who further argued that, if the HMC had the resources, the roads would have been fixed.

Yesterday, workmen believed to be affiliated with the NWA were seen using heavy-duty equipment to repair the roadway in the vicinity of the GV service station, where the accident involving the custos and Jackson occurred.

Efforts to get a comment from the NWA were unsuccessful.

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