Mark Titus, Enterprise Reporter

An aerial view of the Rio Grande in Portland. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

After years of wait, the Rio Grande Valley in Portland is now on the verge of getting some meaningful attention, as the careworn melting pot of communities has been placed on a priority list by the Ministry of Transport and Works.

"The area has been placed on a list of must-dos during a meeting that was held recently between the National Works Agency and the ministry," said Reginald Allen, communication's manager at the transport ministry.

Restoring roads, bridges

According to Allen, those on the list would get first pick when money was acquired to restore roads and bridges.

Allen went on to explain that the Rio Grande Valley was very high up on that list and that the document had been sent to the finance ministry for immediate funding and attention, but he could not say whether or not work would be done on the entire area.

In the meantime, residents of the community are expressing frustration at the failure of successive governments to adequately address their demands. The long-standing infrastructural neglect, they said, has left them in a state of despair.

'Some attention, finally'

"We have been trying for as long as I can remember to get some attention for this area," said Benny White, a former mayor of Port Antonio and resident of Comfort Castle, a community in the area.

In a recent interview with The Gleaner, Dr Donald Rhodd, member of parliament (MP) for East Portland, lamented the condition that residents in the Rio Grande Valley had to endure.

Rhodd, who is the latest MP to champion the cause of the residents in the seemingly forgotten community, said the Government would have to fork out approximately $500 million to address road problems there.