Lucea needs a new town, says Davis

WESTERN BUREAU:

MINISTER OF State in the Office of the Prime Minister (West), Homer Davis, has described the town of Lucea, the capital of Hanover, as in need of a complete makeover.

“Mayor Samuels, I think you need a new town, honestly, you need a new town,” Davis declared on Tuesday, during a meeting with the political directorate and members of staff of the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC). The discussion, held inside the HMC meeting room, was chaired by Mayor of Lucea and Chairman of the HMC Sheridan Samuels, and included stakeholders from the parish.

Davis pointed out that both the town of Hopewell, in eastern Hanover, and Lucea, in the western end of the parish, need to have bypass roadways to avoid the ongoing traffic congestion.

“I don’t have the answer, but I am just telling you where the thinking is at, because in its present state, you cannot be taking two and one half hours from the airport (in Montego Bay) to Negril, that in my opinion is untenable, and so I will speak to the prime minister to get the necessary agencies of government to start looking at how we can bypass Lucea, or my own position is that, I think we need a new Lucea,” he stated.

He expressed the view that major infrastructural work is needed to solve some of the present problems being experienced in Lucea and Hopewell, which are both fast-developing towns.

Davis highlighted that come next year, Lucea, which was established in 1723, will be celebrating 300 years of existence. He advised Samuels that he should start his plans for a makeover of Lucea during a the celebration of the milestone anniversary.

“Probably at that juncture (300-year celebration), as the sitting mayor, you can outline your own vision for your parish, with a view to leaving your footprints,” Davis stated.

The idea of a bypass for the town of Lucea is not a new one, as up to recently the member of parliament for western Hanover, Tamika Davis, tabled the suggestion for such a roadway during her state of the constituency debate in Parliament.

Davis emphasised, however, that more than a bypass is probably needed to solve some of the problems being faced in the parish capital. He noted that the solution to the problems of Lucea might rest in the relocation or developing of the town more inland and away from the coast, as it presently lies.

The main street in Lucea is known for flooding when there are bouts of heavy rain in that area and the Lucea east river overflows its banks. It is said to be below sea level, only protected by a low concrete wall from the sea.

Meanwhile, Samuels, while agreeing that the town of Lucea urgently needs a bypass road to minimise the level of traffic congestion that takes place on a regular basis, puts forward a suggestion for assistance to do rehabilitation work on the Malcolm Heights roadway in the town, which, he said, can be used temporarily to take some of the traffic off main street Lucea. He, however, offered no comment on the suggestion by Davis that there is need for a new town.