Transport and Works Minister Robert Pickersgill (right) looks on as Ivan Anderson (left), CEO of the National Works Agency (NWA), explains to Linette Wilks, representative of the Rio Grande Valley in Portland and St. Thomas communities, the network of roads the NWA will repair in the weeks ahead. Several residents from Portland met Mr. Pickersgill yesterday at his New Kingston office to discuss the state of their parish's infrastructure six months after last November's heavy rains. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer THE NATIONAL Works Agency (NWA) is to erect a new bridge in Portland to replace the old and damaged Alligator Church bridge which, residents claim, is restricting movement to sections of the parish.
News about plans for the new bridge came yesterday at the Ministry of Transport and Works in Kingston where Transport and Works Minister Robert Pickersgill met several key Portland residents to hear their grouses. Donald Rhodd, the Member of Parliament for Eastern Portland, accompanied them.
Apart from the new bridge, the NWA and the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) also announced measures to fix some of the parish's faulty drainage and sewerage systems.
Chief among the disgruntled Portlanders yesterday was Linette Wilks, a representative of the Rio Grande Valley and St. Thomas communities. According to her, the poor conditions in the valley weren't new "as for the past 20 years the Rio Grande Valley has been subjected to almost programmed under-development".
She also said that life for children in the communities appeared near non-existent as most of them could not get past Comfort Castle because of the bad roads, some of which she said caused a 15-kilometre journey to take 90 minutes.
"We are literally begging. Give us (proper) roads and we will have all the other resources we need in the Rio Grande Valley," Mrs. Wilks said.
Responding to her, Ivan Anderson, chief executive officer (CEO) of the NWA, said his organisation planned to erect the new bridge in six weeks.
He said the contract for the erection of the bridge was recently tendered but none of the contractors who bid qualified. He said the contract would be re-tendered.
Additionally, he said river training in Berrydale was expected to be completed in a month, while the reinstating of a 5.5 kilometre pipeline from Port Antonio to St. Margaret's Bay would be completed in less than two weeks.
For his part, chairman and CEO of the PAJ, Noel Hylton, said he believed there were a lot of prospects for development in Portland but he cautioned Portlanders against thinking the proposed Port Antonio Marina was the answer to the parish's problems.
"Forty to 50 years ago the upper end of the tourism market was in Portland and I am convinced that we can bring back that upper end," he said.
However, Mr. Hylton said this rejuvenation would require the people's support. He added that within three to four months, proper sewerage, drainage and water projects would be implemented in sections of the parish. He said the Port Authority was also seeking to have an airport for private jets in the parish. Mr. Hylton added the PAJ would landscape the area around the Port Antonio east harbour by next month.
"There are a lot of things that will happen in Port Antonio and its environs," he said.
Heavy rain last November wreaked havoc on Portland, damaging the parish's infrastructure, including roads and bridges.
