Nothing but empty promises.
That is what some relatives of residents of Vaughn Road No.1, St Joseph, say authorities have given them when it comes to fixing the roads and installing street lights.
Two people told the WEEKEND NATION that the latest promise came from politicians just before the February General Election.
One woman who requested anonymity lamented: “I don’t think the politicians forget. I feel they just don’t worry about St Joseph people anymore because they came down here and promise people that they gine get this road fix, that they gine give them street lights and they gine do this and do that. We are not children, we are big people that they coming saying yes they are going to help. That is not nice to do to people. We are humans too.”
In 2011 it was reported that about four years prior a section of the roadway first showed signs of sinking. And following the passage of Tropical Storm Tomas in 2010, the road sank even further, creating a nightmare for the residents.
That section of the roadway is the closest connection to the main road where the buses travel.
Alternatively residents would have to use another road which is more than two kilometres away from the main road. It is also very narrow with deep corners.
The woman, who said she was a regular to the area visiting her mother, said it would be difficult for an ambulance or a fire truck to traverse the area given the conditions of the road.
“We want the [Government] Ministers know that all this promises thing not working anymore. They came promising and did nothing,” said one man who would only give his name as Shaba.
“I don’t see the reason why the politicians say they running for a particular area [and] you only see them men a couple days before election and they come in and tell you ‘we gine make this place good . . . . Just vote for me, vote my party. And you . . . go and vote the people and they forget the poor man who helped,” he added.
Shaba further expressed disappointment that the St Joseph parish church in the area was condemned, noting that people now had to “go far” to attend church.
Member of Parliament for the area Dale Marshall said despite making constant calls for serious attention to be paid to slippage in the parish and for the roads to be repaired by the current administration, those calls have “fallen on deaf ears”.
He said: “It is something that the Government needs to address.”
Meanwhile, a section of the Hillaby Turners Hall main road in St Andrew is no more. In October 2010, a section of the road was ripped away after heavy battering during the passage of Tomas and it was subsequently closed to vehicular traffic.
To date, that roadway remains closed.
When a WEEKEND NATION team visited the area yesterday it was covered with grass. (MM)
