Construction obstruction - Charges possible for impeding traffic

Chad Bryan, Gleaner Writer

Persons who leave or dump construction material on the road, resulting in the impediment of vehicular traffic on the roadway, are liable to face criminal sanctions under the Towns and Communities Act as well as the Main Roads Act. The material includes sand, gravel, rocks and cement.

Communications and Customer Service
manager at the National Works Agency (NWA), Stephen Shaw, explained that
the practice is against the law and that persons who dump construction
material on the roadway run the risk of being served with an
encroachment notice.

"Where those are served, you
normally give the persons some time to rem.ove the impediment and, if
they do not do so, the law - the Main Roads Act - empowers the local
authorities and the Works Agency to treat with those things," Shaw
said.

Sections 23D, 24I, 25 and 26 of the Main Roads
Act deal specifically, and in detail, with what is deemed an
encroachment, the removal of the encroachment as well as the penalties
that persons are liable to face.

Section 23D speaks
specifically to the dumping of construction material and any debris,
refuse or the obstruction of any part of the road remaining or resulting
from anything done by or on behalf of the owner or occupier of any
land, fence, building or construction, adjoining the
road.

YOUR RESPONISBILITY

Section
24I requires the individual who is responsible for the encroachment to
remove it forthwith and at the person's own cost. And Section 25 speaks
to the point at which the director/chief executive officer of the NWA
can step in and remove the encroachment. Section 26 explains the
penalty.

Section 5 of the Towns and Communities Act
also speaks to the laying of debris in the roadway and its
removal.

Shaw explained that notices have been served
on persons to remove their debris from the roadway. He pointed out that
the problem persists when persons in rural areas leave their debris for
longer periods.

"We have been serving notices on
persons, but in rural Jamaica, you find people who are building dumping
their material on the road for years on end, while others will do so for
a few days. They wouldn't know it is illegal, but they will comply. It
has been a challenge though, because we have had situations where we
have had to go in and remove it physically," Shaw
said.

A representative from a hardware store in
Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, stated that while she did not know the act
of dumping or leaving construction material on a roadway way was
illegal or if her construction company has warned persons about the
practice, she is aware that the practice creates an obvious
impediment.

A police officer from the South St Andrew
Division explained that if persons make complaints regarding this issue,
then the police can take
action.

FILE PHOTOS