With Ramble Bridge fixed, a resident pleads for road repairs
Published:Saturday | August 15, 2020 | 12:24 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
The Ramble Bridge in St Thomas is finally being repaired after much fanfare and now the residents are turning their attention to the deplorable road conditions, especially with election day 2020 approaching.
Workmen were busily carrying out well-needed repairs on Thursday to the high-usage 12-ton bridge.
Project Manager Clanhope Anthony told The Gleaner that the work, which began on Tuesday, was expected to be completed on Friday.
The National Works Agency (NWA) said that the $1.7-million, four-day project to replace the deck of the Ramble Bridge was the completion of works that began in summer 2019. Half of the bridge’s deck was replaced then.
The bridge is used by hundreds of commuters to access other remote sections of the parish, like Garden Piece, Village, Windsor Forest, Richmond, and Cedar Valley.
The repairs are the culmination of months of misery for residents and other commuters who have tirelessly advocated for the bridge to be fixed.
One such resident is Neriga ‘Mystery Lady’ Morgan.
Now that the bridge dangers have been addressed, repairing ramshackle roads is at the top of her agenda.
“Election coming up and we going to vote under that condition. It’s a big issue. When I heard that election call, I said really, and we don’t even have a road to say yes this is what their vote going for. We need proper roads,” said Morgan.
Ramble lies in the constituency of St Thomas Western, which has been represented by the Jamaica Labour Party’s James Robertson since 2002. He is seeking his fourth term in office.
Morgan said that several roads in Ramble have not been resurfaced in recent memory.
Morgan, who gets in some rigorous exercise while riding her bicycle on the bumpy roads, insists that her call for sweeping repairs far outweighs personal benefit.
“I am not riding comfortable. Most times I mount, I feel like the bicycle a give way, but I am not agitating for me alone, I am agitating for the whole community,” said Morgan.
Having spent years advocating for the bridge to be repaired, she hopes her call for the road repair will be actioned very soon.