$15 million road fiasco in Lucea

LUCEA, Hanover:

Residents of New Town in Lucea, Hanover, are crying foul at what they say is a gross waste of millions of tax dollars on two roads which were recently rehabilitated in the subdivision.

Less than two weeks after the road-resurfacing works were completed on East and West Avenues in the town, potholes have reappeared on both of them. In addition, the curb and channels which were constructed to take water off the roadway have begun to erode, while the drains which were constructed higher than the road surface have been totally eroded in some areas. The work on West Avenue was done at a cost of $8.7 million, while East Avenue was repaired at a cost of $6.2 million.

President of the New Town Neighbourhood Citizens' Association, Mervin Spence, told Western Focus that shoddy workmanship was now resulting in the properties in the areas being flooded whenever it rains as the main drain leading off West Avenue has become full of aggregate and marl.

"I have never seen work like this before. They took five months to do two roads. They have torn up some good curbs and channels and replaced them with inferior ones. Stones and other debris from the construction are washing into people's yards and flooding them, too," Spence said.

"They were putting in marl in the morning, and by evening, it's (being) washed out again because of the rains, and I have seen that done for about a week. I think a lot of money was wasted. The day after they paved it, the rains came in the night and potholes (were visible) in the morning," he added.

When contacted, Councillor of the Lucea Division, Neville Clare, said even though both thoroughfares are Hanover Parish Council roads, the municipal authority was not involved in the construction or contracting process.

"We are aware of it, but it's not our project, it's National Works Agency's (NWA). What happened is that the member of parliment had got some funds and he had put it through the NWA, so it's the NWA. They did the project, choose the contractors, and everything, although it's our road," Clare said.

"I am against the double-surface dressing. It creates such havoc, and it is problematic. The thing about it is, I am not quite certain of the problem they have up there. I don't know if the marl was not heavily compacted because once you put on marl base, it needs to be properly compacted. You have to roll it until it's tough like rock. So, it is our (Parish Council) road, but it is not our project at all.

He added: "To be honest with you, I don't even know who the contractor is. I just didn't interfere in the whole thing. Both East Avenue and West Avenue were done by the NWA. I did not oversee anything. They did not ask me to do any oversight on it. We (Parish Council) were not the implementing agency."

NWA Community Relations Officer Janel Ricketts said the contractor, Asphalt Paving and Construction Solutions, who carried out the project, which came under the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme, will have to carry out remedial work to rectify the outstanding faults in the roads.

Member of Parliament for Western Hanover, Ian Hayles, in response to the issue, said: "I cannot blame the contractor as they were having difficulty receiving payments to complete the project as was widely publicised in the press. Because there was no room for variance as was dictated by the Goverment, the project had to go along on the existing resources. Remedial work to complete the project will take place under the soon-to-commence Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme III."