St. John’s roads horrible, says MP
Member of Parliament for St. John, Charles Griffith is making an appeal for the roads in St. John to be fixed as a matter of urgency.
Describing the road network in the rural parish as the worst in the country, Griffith called on his Cabinet colleague, Minister of Works, Transport and Maintenance, Dr. William Duguid to remember St. John when allocating finances to undertake
road rehabilitation programmes. He was speaking yesterday evening during the debate in the Lower House on a supplementary for road repairs, as he lamented that the roads in St. John are in a state of disrepair.
“From canvassing the constituency, from living in the constituency I can say without fear that some of the roads have not been repaired for more than 50 years and it is unfortunate that the type of MPs [Members of Parliament]… would allow the roads in St. John to be in the state that they currently exist in,” he said.
He was alluding to the fact that the constituency had been represented by two late Prime Ministers. With that in mind, Griffith, the Minister in the Ministry of Housing, Lands and Rural Development, listed a number of the roads he considered to be the worst including Ashford Tenantry, Stewart Hill, Foster Hall, Cherry Grove, Sherbourne, College Savannah and Martin’s Bay.
“We have potholes in potholes in Stewart Hill, St. John and I am asking the Honourable Member to probably do a visit to St. John to see what I’m talking about. The road at Foster Hill is one of the main roads used by the tour buses on this island on a daily basis, going towards St. John Parish Church and when you travel on the road in Foster Hall it is almost as if you are on a rollercoaster, it is really quite bad. In Martin’s Bay we have one the main or one of two main eateries in St. John that is frequented on a weekly by residents from throughout the country including tourists and the road in Martin’s Bay again is absolutely horrible,” he said.
Referring to Welch Village, he said that it has been at least 50 years since the road in that area was done, and he is fearful that the rains likely to come at this time of the year, could cut residents in that area off from the rest of the parish. He warned of the possibility, while explaining that it is currently on the verge of collapsing.
“In Sealy Hall in St. John a similar thing obtains. We have a situation where the road turns into a river. So you could understand like I said that I believe my constituency is absolutely the worst as it relates to the road network in this country. Cherry Grove, another community that is really, really in a state of disrepair… the previous Government would have cut off a portion of the road and it is just unfinished,” he lamented.
Minister Griffith added, “College Savannah [is] another area that the road network is so horrible. It is a good thing that we’ve decided to get rid of the road tax, because you really feel as if you’re being penalised when you drive on the roads in St. John.”
Griffith, who hails from the constituency, is adamant that the road network in the area is so bad that remedial work can do little to remedy the problem. What is required, he believes, are new roads. (JRT)