Photo by Flavio Bacchettta
One of several open trenches along the main road in Tower Isle, St. Mary, which have been a source of potential danger to motorists. The trenches and potholes are a result of the construction of the North Coast Highway by the Danish Company P.I.H.L. Residents complain that the construction activities frequently damage power and telecommunication lines as well as water mains, resulting in loss of service.

The road work being done on the Ocho Rios to Portland leg of the North Coast Highway has angered many St. Mary residents who are blaming the contractors for "making our lives a living hell."

They note that from White River (the border between Ocho Rios and St. Mary) to sections of Port Maria, the situation is "as bad as it gets", with several communities now experiencing major disruption to electricity, telephone and water supplies.

"I live in Tower Isle, about a 15-minute drive to Ocho Rios, and what is happening here is a daily nightmare due to the road work," commented Flavio Bacchetta, resident. "Since last July, we have had disruption to our water at least three days per week for an average of eight and a half hours per day. Two weeks ago, we spent a total of 48 hours without either water or light. There is nobody to complain to so we have to just sit here and take it."

Frequent reports of road accidents

Mr. Bachetta added that the open trenches on the road, poorly lit signs and an absence of streetlights have also made the roads leading from Tower Isle all the way through Port Maria a nightmare for motorists, saying there have been frequent reports of road accidents.

Roderick Strachan, a resident of Oracabessa in St. Mary agreed. "This is nothing short of a disgrace," he said. "The bulldozers are left carelessly on the side of the roads near the trenches so imagine what can happen at nights. The tractors are always digging underground, so water supply will always be affected; so too will our telephones and our electricity. Knowing how long it takes for us to complete anything in this country, I guess we will have to tolerate this until kingdom come."

A visit by The Sunday Gleaner to the affected areas confirmed many of the complaints, especially as it relates to the poorly visible detour signs. In trying to get to nearby Albany from Port Maria, our news team ended up in Highgate and had to, on a number of occasions, ask residents for directions.

Open your eyes

In trying to get a comment from three men who identified themselves as being employed to the Danish contractors P.I.H.L, we were told: "Open your eyes and you won't get lost. The detour signs are all over the place, we can't see for you."

Repeated efforts to get an official comment from the company were unsuccessful. Another employee said bluntly that "we don't get ourselves involved in local politics. We are just here to do a job."

Stephen Ricketts, a resident of Tower Isle, noted that he was not surprised at what he called "the arrogance of these contractors", adding that the government was to be blamed for not monitoring the work. "These guys have every right to be behaving like this considering there is hardly any monitoring of this project," he said. "Look at all these open trenches with stagnant water. At a time when malaria is a live danger, we have these kinds of things hanging around."

He continued: "Yes, at the end of the day this will be good for everybody but at what price? Are we saying that our lives will be affected indefinitely and we must bear all this inconvenience until somebody decides enough is enough? Certainly, there has to be a better way to do this."

The Ocho Rios to Portland route is the third and final leg of the North Coast Highway. The Montego Bay to Negril leg has already been completed while work is still going on from Montego Bay to Ocho Rios.

- G.D.