Dangerous road still not fixed Taxi operators plead for assistance
Taxi operators that ply the Papine to August Town route said that they are annoyed at the Government because a road that suffered a breakaway two months ago has yet to be repaired.
A section of the John Golding Road had to be closed in May after a huge hole appeared seemingly overnight.
The National Works Agency (NWA) said the breakaway was caused by the collapse of a pipe culvert.
One operator said that they have to be travelling through the University of the West Indies (UWI) for the past month because the road is almost impassable and he is not taking the risk of driving there.
He said that persons who don’t have a sticker to drive through the UWI campus have to drive through Mona and on to Old Hope Road to get to Papine.
“Dem affi drive and drop out a Ministry a Agriculture and a nuff more gas that. Unnu nuh see seh gas price a go up? Dem need fi fix the road man, a full time now,” he said.
A passenger told THE STAR that there are taxi operators who risk it and drive on the dirt side of the breakaway but that is very dangerous.
She said that the drivers should demonstrate about the road because it has been a while since the situation came up.
“A from May the road stay so and nobody nuh pay we no mind as taxi operators. We need the road fi fix. A long time dem seh dem a go fix it and all now,” a taxi operator said.
One woman said that they are not severely impacted by the breakaway but for persons who are not going to August Town, it presents some challenges.
Residents in and around that area are calling on the authorities to start repairs and get the situation rectified.
The news team made attempts to get in touch with communication manager at the NWA Stephen Shaw, however, the calls went to voicemail.