Open letter to Mike Henry

The Editor, Sir:

This is an open letter to Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry.

We are writing as a group of concerned citizens residing in the eastern end of the parish of St Thomas. Most of us returned here since the early 1990s. We have watched the condition of the main road from Harbour View to Portland deteriorate into a most unacceptable state, mostly linked to bad weather conditions or poor drainage.

A significant amount of the deterioration is attributable to poor workmanship. When the road is being rebuilt, kerbs are knocked out of place by tractors, no proper rolling in of marl is done, and a very thin layer of asphalt is laid, so that as soon as a small hole appears in the road, the marl is washed away. No immediate repair is done and the small hole becomes a crater.

In 1998 or thereabouts, the main road was repaired from Harbour View to Pamphret, and we the citizens were told at that time the rebuilding of the road would continue to Morant Bay. This did not happen. The section of the road that was built deteriorated over a short period because of the number of overloaded sand-carrying trucks that were not weighed before going on to the road.

Most recently, especially after the devastation of Nicole, we, the citizens travelling between Kingston and Portland, are taking our lives into our hands, driving through the many large pot holes and the constantly deteriorating ford in the Bull Bay area.

Honouring logic

We are a group that honours our obligations by paying property taxes and we feel we are not getting value for money. The drains and gullies are in a very poor state. Some of the larger drains in the Retreat area have large trees growing in them, along with other vegetation, and we have had little success with cleaning from the parish council and the community development committee.

The side roads, regrettably, are in a worse state.

What are the plans for the roads in St Thomas, especially the Kingston to Portland stretch? How can the sand and marl trucks be regulated, in terms of weight, to protect the road surface and prevent the dumping of sand and gravel along the corners and hills from Albion to Eleven Miles, almost up to Three Finger Jack?

- Tony Manning, The Association of Returned Citizens,  Eastern St Thomas