Collie Smith Drive Awaits Road Fix

Reporter: Kerlyn Brown

 

Residents and business operators along Collis Smith Drive in Trench Town continued to voice frustration over a prolonged road rehabilitation project in their community, saying months of construction has left the roadway hazardous and negatively affecting daily life and commerce.

 

For months, motorists, pedestrians, and business operators along Collie Smith Drive have

been forced to navigate dust, mud, and uneven road surfaces as the major road improvement project is unfinished.

 

Residents and business owners say the prolonged construction disrupts transportation, reduces customer traffic, and creates health concerns. As for the dust nuisance, they say it's unbearable and whenever it rains, it pours into holes along the roadway.

 

A resident told CVM, “When it's like this, as you can see, the sewage water is stagnant here and it poses significant health risk. The odour is awful. It affects all the small businesses along the main road. So, you know that because one side is broken, no traffic on the left side. So, all the business on the left side, no customers, no nothing. So, it's just awful.”

 

Member of parliament for the Saint Andrew South constituency Mark Golding in acknowledging the hardship being faced says he too is concerned by the delay which has been complicated by other developments.

 

Golding said, “The problem has been the sewer system below the road which was essentially damaged by the road works and found to be inadequate and therefore required additional contracting to sort out that problem.”

 

Golding said the main contractor, China Harbor, is finalizing the procurement of the materials required by the NWC.

 

“I am told that China Harbor plans to mobilise their subcontractor next week to commence the work to sort out the sewer problem.”

 

 And community advocate Dr Henley Morgan says the project was designed to create more than just a rehabilitated roadway.

 

Morgan said, “The idea is not only to pave over the road, but eventually to cover the gully that runs down the middle and to actually convert it into a promenade.”