‘Fix the road!’

The announcement came from the Ministry of Housing, Lands and Rural Development that residents of White Hill, St. Andrew would receive some much needed relief as the Ministry prepares for the next phase of their relocation project. However, many residents told The Barbados Advocate that they would rather have persons fix the roads than be relocated.

Oswald Jemmott expressed that since the road was not damaged by natural effects, it would be better to have the road fixed to avoid future casualties. His wife, Suzanne Jemmott shared his sentiments.

“On the topic of relocation, when the road first began to move, they said that they would relocate. To be honest, our first option would be to get the road fixed, but if there is no other option then we would accept the relocation plan,” she said.

“It takes years for relocation to happen; and there were families up in here that were suppose to move with the Second Phase people that are still living here in White Hill. So, when we hear people talking about relocation, we know we will be up here for years before we move. Honestly, fix the roads so that the residents can get in and out because relocation is honestly just a promise to fools,” she lamented.

Other residents recalled that it took the Government four years to relocate three families, which is another reason they believe it would be more beneficial to have the roads fixed than to relocate all the families in that district. Additionally, residents listed other areas where the roads were worse than the road in St. Andrew that was fixed, and believed that in the same way those could be fixed, their road could be fixed as well.

One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed that he would not believe a word the Government said because Election Time is swiftly approaching and they merely are looking to get votes instead of genuinely helping the residents in the area.

“Right when the road broke away nobody helped us. We had to make our own little path for the women and children to walk on. At first we used grass but when the grass was wet it was too slippery, so we used marl instead,” he said.

Olivia Gill swiftly added that she would rather see the roads fixed than be asked to move. She revealed that many times, before the marl was put down she, and many other persons she knew, would have fallen trying to use that road.

“The little track use to be an actual road where the buses came through, so I don’t see why they can’t fix the road. If it was fixed properly, we won’t have this problem today,” she said.