St Philip folk choking on dust

EVERY TIME a vehicle passes along Evelyn Road in St Philip, the residents are greeted with billowing clouds of dust, a problem they have endured for the past six to seven months.
Concerned resident Charles Estwick complained: “We are inhaling dust and marl every hour of the day. Every resident of the community is like a vacuum cleaner sucking in dust.”
He and other residents complained that the health of the entire community was at risk because of the failure of the Ministry of Transport and Works (MTW) to fix the road, which has been in disrepair for many years.
Estwick said that the road was never good, but after it was used for traffic diverted during the period when the road from Brereton to Marchfield was being fixed, its condition worsened severely.
He said that to accommodate the increased traffic, “[MTW personnel] come and throw down some marl and run a roller over it. But that was it – no tar”.
Passing vehicles then displaced the marl, causing the atmosphere to be filled with dust. The road now has large potholes.
Estwick said he now had to keep his house shut up all day to keep out the dust. (LK)