We want a proper road not a skating rink, say fuming Moy Hall residents

Western Bureau:

Residents of Moy Hall in St James are now hopping mad, saying infrastructure work to install a water pipeline system and additional work to replace the old asphalt road with concrete surface have left their hillside community with something looking more like a skating rink than a road.

“We have been given a raw deal, as the existing condition is of great inconvenience to us, both pedestrians and motorists, an irate resident told The Gleaner during a visit to the community earlier this week.

“The concrete is quite slippery, especially when it rains … cars have slipped off the road and persons have fallen and injured themselves.”

Tour bus operator Dwight Harvey, who resides in the community, says the current challenges started over two years ago when their councillor, Montego Bay Deputy Mayor Dwight Crawford, notified them in 2023 of plans to lay pipelines in the community over a span of three weeks, which he noted would create some amount of inconvenience.

The notice, dated December 13, 2023 and which was shown to The Gleaner, read in part: “We will commence excavation and installation of the four-inch supply water pipe to be connected to the main supply that runs along the Reading main road up to the storage tank in Judge Hill … the procedure will be a three-week project.”

However, instead of three weeks of inconvenience, the community, Harvey and other residents told The Gleaner it has evolved into a nearly three-year nightmare, which has been compounded by a road project being undertaken by a Chinese work crew, which has stripped the asphalt of the road to accommodate a new concrete road.

ROAD PROJECT

“More than two years ago, they came and dig up the road, they use a machine to cut the road four and a half feet in depth by 18 inches wide to lay a four-inch pipe,” Harvey noted, adding that he thought it was “stupid”.

“From that day until now, the road has not been back to normal … . It is now mud and marl. When it rains, nothing cannot go up the hill.

“Now they are putting in the concrete road, they use a little push broom saying they are making grit so that it won’t be so slippery, all the grit rub off already.

“The hill is slippery and dangerous, several ladies have fallen on it and just and roll down the road … two days ago, a car slipped off the hill and crashed into the bank along the hill. It is dangerous.”

When The Gleaner visited the community, residents seemed eager to point out the more treacherous area, especially the steeper concrete sections, and the sections still covered by marl and dirt.

“Yesterday after the rain fall, for my personal safety, I had to come off by motor bike and push it up the hill because the road was so slippery,” a motorcyclist told The Gleaner. “As you can, see there is a steep gully on one side of the road, so a simple mistake could cause you your life.

“I don’t have a problem with the concrete road, because if it is done properly, we should have something better than what we had before. However, I am not convinced that what is being done is being done properly, it does not have enough grit, and it make it unsafe.”

A woman, who stopped The Gleaner team to express her concern, said while the original road could accommodate two vehicles passing side-by-side, the new concrete road is quite narrow, creating a single-lane situation, which she finds unacceptable.

EXPANDING COMMUNITY

“This is a rapidly expanding community, and many residents have cars, with this narrow road, even if they address the slippery issues, it is still going to cause a lot of congestion,” said a woman who gave her name only as Donna.

“I believe they should widen the road back to its original size.”

However, for the most part, the residents’ primary concern is for the road to be made safe as their inability to use it when it rains is a major headache for them.

“My vehicle is a four-wheel drive, and, when it rains, it cannot manage this road,” said Harvey, “the mud and marl and the slippery concrete is too much, we want this matter to be handled with greater urgency, this situation could cause life. We are calling on our political representatives to have this situation addressed with the urgency it deserves.

In a response to residents yesterday afternoon, Crawford told The Gleaner that the work is ongoing.

“It is a part of the SPARK programme, which is being done by Chinese contractors aligned to China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC),” he said.

“The Chinese took a break for Christmas but will resume work once the holiday is over.

“I, too, am disappointed with the state in which the road was left by the Chinese when they took the break, because there was a ridge where the concrete road ended, which has been causing some difficulties for motorists, In fact, I initiated the creation of a ramp there to make it easier for the motorists.”

He said he fully understood the concerns of the residents and was in support of their right to speak out.

“I cannot be happy if they are not happy because I am their representative,” he added.

In responding to the claim by some residents that some sections of the concrete road are quite slippery, Crawford said he was not aware of that and promised to investigate with a view to having any defects addressed.

“If sections of the concrete road are indeed slippery, we will just ask the contractors to grind that section of the road a little more to improve the traction,” he said.

“The decision was taken to go the concrete road route, similarly to what was done at Fern Gully, in St Ann. We have used asphalt on this road many times but, because of the steepness of the hill, whenever it rains, it washes away the asphalt. What is now being done now is a long-term solution to that problem.”

Crawford also gave an assurance that he would investigate the concerns about the road being narrower now than it was before. If that claim proves to be true, he said, he would seek to have that matter addressed as well.

editorial@gleanerjm.com