By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
MAJOR TRAFFIC changes will be implemented in sections of Montego Bay today as infrastructural work begins on the flood-prone King Street fording.
According to the National Works Agency (NWA), motorists using that fording will be re-routed over the next three months to facilitate the drainage works at the King Street location. The NWA is advising commuters that the alternative route is Union Street, Brandon Hill and Appleton Hall.
Taxis plying the Montego Bay to Salt Spring route are among the motorists who will suffer some inconvenience, as a result of the re-routing.
The improvement on the King Street fording is part of the $180 million renovation exercise on the North Gully, which began in October last year.
Stephen Shaw, communications officer with the western regional office of the NWA, told The Gleaner that repairs to the King Street fording will involve reinforcement and realignment of the drains in the area. "The contractors will be constructing a box culvert and repositioning the U-drain that was washed away over a year ago," added Mr. Shaw.
The King Street fording of the North Gully was destroyed during the heavy rains of January 2001. Large slabs of the concrete that were then uprooted, now rest precariously near the roadway. Since the destruction of the fording, flood waters, silt and debris sometimes render sections of the roadway impassable.
In the meantime, work is also taking place on sections of the North Gully which traverse the communities of Green Pond/Capital Heights and Rose Mount, which were also damaged during the January 2001 floods. The remedial initiative includes widening of channels, the reinforcement of protective walls and the reinstatement of concrete drains and channels. The reconstruction exercise on the North Gully is slated to end in July.
For almost a year, the NWA was hard-pressed to find a contractor to undertake work on the North Gully because of fears of extortion, in sections which traverse some volatile inner-city communities in Montego Bay. Reports from the NWA were that some companies which were contacted by the organisation as potential contractors, included sums earmarked for protection money, which they anticipated would have to be paid out to ensure that the venture was not disrupted by extortionists or self-styled dons.
However, since the contract was awarded to M and M Jamaica Ltd., the NWA says it has received no reports that the project has been hounded by extortionists.
"We have had no report that extortion racketeers have caused any problems for the contractors or workmen or have disrupted the work in any way," Mr. Shaw said.
