Rudolph Brown/Staff Photographer
Motorists carefully avoid the huge potholes that have been a feature of Altamont Crescent for some time.Lavern D. Clarke, Builders Forum Co-ordinator
THE BACK ends of the New Kingston business district are riddled with potholes and uneven, but no other section compares with Altamont Crescent where the road is literally caving in.
Five crater-like openings line the road closer to the section that connects with Haining Road, reducing driving to a stressful attempt at hopscotching around them while motorists keep eyes peeled for oncoming traffic.
Those holes are complemented by other regular potholes that are now normal on Jamaica's streets.
The road itself gives a roller-coaster type ride, indicating that some reconstruction is needed.
The more massive potholes which all sit in the centre of the road began innocuously enough as small gapings in the surface following the two storms that dumped flood rains on Jamaica within the past six months. They were left to develop, getting larger as vehicular traffic put pressure on what appears to be an inadequate sub base.
On Wednesday, one of the worst holes appeared to have caved in further, exposing an approximate 6-9 inch depth. By Friday morning, some concerned citizen had dumped debris in it, filling out a portion.
Called for comment on the road at close to 9:00 a.m., the National Works Agency was not immediately aware of its status, but communications officer Douglas McIntosh promised to check and then comment.
The section of the road that is most problematic is a reinstated portion of a trench that had been dug down the road's centre.
National Water Commission spokesman, Charles Buchanan, checked and found that they were not the culprits in this case. But he told Builders Forum that even if they were the ones to have dug the reinstated trench, there is a renewed agreement in place with the NWA for them to rehabilitate roads dug up by the water agency. NWC then pays the road agency for the work done under a contractual arrangement.
"Since last month we restarted the contract, so even if Altamont Crescent is our fault, it is up to NWA to repair it," said Buchanan who heads up corporate communications.
The ongoing arrangement between the two state agencies had come to end earlier this year, and was renegotiated because NWC felt a 9 per cent charge in the contract, plus other conditions were "rather onerous."
The agencies "met halfway" in the talks and the percentage has been reduced. That accommodation, plus the Water Commission's realisation that while it could hire its contractor there would never be sufficient work to keep him engaged, helped to seal the arrangement.
"NWC can't itself certify road works legally, so we thought it best to leave the repairs to the NWA," he said. The works agency has insisted on reinstating roads that have been dug up by the utilities and other entities, as a means of policing quality control.
The NWA officer never did call back with a comment, neither did he respond to messages. However, Builders Forum received word at 2:00 p.m. that a backhoe had began working on the potholes.
