Frustrated councillor lists litany of woes
OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Frustrated that his pleas for help have so far fallen on deaf ears, Councillor Lambert Weir (People’s National Party, Claremont Division) appears at his wits’ end about how to fix the problems in his constituency.
The challenges range from roads badly in need of repair to broken street lights and irregular garbage collection. They are issues often raised by other local representatives at municipal corporation meetings across the country.
“I don’t know if it is only my area that is getting this sort of treatment but I can say it is not good and the people don’t feel appreciated,” Weir told the Jamaica Observer.
For the last five years, he said, there have been unfulfilled promises to fix the main road, which runs from the rural town of Claremont through Higgin Town to Lime Hall.
“The road is worse than a track that a donkey should walk on. It is a challenge for vehicles to travel on it. It is… potholes and bumps right along the road. Commuters are tired after using that road because the amount of jerk they get. Not even an ambulance can comfortably carry a sick person on that road. It is a burning shame,” he said.
Roadblocks mounted by residents over the years have done nothing to loosen the purse strings and provide the money that he has been told is available to carry out roadwork, he said.
“All we can hear is that funds is in place, but they waiting on one thing or the other. Why is it taking so long?” the councillor asked.
Pointing out the impact the state of the road has had on taxi operators who are constantly paying to repair their vehicles, he said it was unfair to them and tax payers in general who are not getting value for their contribution to the State coffers.
“If they are not ready to fix the road properly, they should at least do some remedial work. They can scrape off, marl and press the road for the time being then so people can feel better,” suggested Weir.
The shoddy road conditions are compounded, the councillor said, by lack of adequate lighting because of the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Company Ltd’s slow pace in making repairs and overall maintenance. He is concerned about the impact this will have on residents’ safety.
“We have made numerous reports [to JPS], they came to meetings and all we have been hearing is that they are waiting on materials from early last year until now,” Weir said.
Another area of concern said the frustrated councillor is garbage disposal. He blamed infrequent collection on residents’ tendency to illegally dump waste in locations across the division.
“It is like this division is forgotten because some areas is two or three weeks before garbage is picked up and the talk is that they don’t have enough garbage trucks,” Weir told the Observer .
“People are dumping garbage all around on the road and in some little lonely areas and that is a major issue because it is dengue season and that can lead to breeding of mosquitoes. Maybe if the truck was coming regularly some of it could have been avoided,” he added.