Moy Hall residents bemoan state of district’s only access road
Published:Wednesday | February 5, 2025 | 12:09 AMRochelle Clayton/Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
A roadway riddled with loose gravel and potholes has become a sore point for residents of Moy Hall in St James, who must navigate the thoroughfare daily.
In fact, the poor condition of the road has led some residents to park their vehicles at the bottom of a hill leading into the community whenever it rains, fearing damage or injury.
“We have been suffering terribly and whenever we talk about it, the political representatives are saying that we have a political agenda. No, we don’t have anything against the MP (member of parliament) or the councillor. Absolutely nothing. The councillor and I have a good relationship,” Chester Sterling, chairman of the Moy Hall Community Development Committee (CDC), told The Gleaner.
“I am a Labourite (Jamaica Labour Party supporter) and they’re saying that it’s a political thing, but this whole thing is balanced. I don’t understand why there is a need to politicise things right now when the thing was balanced; the scale wasn’t tipped,” said Coretta Joseph, another Moy Hall resident.
Moy Hall is part of the Spring Garden division, which is represented by Councillor Dwight Crawford, of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). The community is based in the St James West Central constituency, where the JLP’s Marlene Malahoo Forte is the MP.
According to Sterling, the road was dug up during a National Water Commission (NWC) pipe project in December 2023, and residents were informed that it would be repaired in six weeks.
However, Sterling believes the residents were given that timeline due to the impending local government elections in February 2024. With the pipe project now completed, he said residents are left with the pothole-ridden roadway, which is the community’s only access point.
“When they started the project, they said it would have taken three weeks. I said to them that based on my little knowledge of construction, the magnitude of work that they have to do cannot be done in three weeks. It’s impossible, so stop telling people lies because it was close to the election,” said Sterling.
“They have finished doing the pipes now for about six months. The pipes have been laid and pressure tested, but not commissioned. We have been complaining, and she keeps telling us that they are just waiting on the dry period to get it fixed. We have been through about five weeks with no rain, so I don’t know what she refers to as a dry period. I don’t know, but we are tired,” the Moy Hall CDC chairman added.
SCORING POLITICAL POINTS
Resident Ainsworth Samuels said community development projects in Moy Hall only seem to be undertaken in the midst of a political campaign.
According to him, the introduction of a water tank and the piping project in Moy Hall coincided with two previous elections. He thinks the road improvement project will kick-start ahead of the general election, which is constitutionally due this year.
“If you go up there, you will see a big blue tank up there. That tank was built when [the 2020] election was about to come on the board. ... The cutting of this road was also used as a local government election catch,” said Samuels.
“My daughter was going down the road to head for work when she fell and mash up the whole of herself. She had to turn back. I see another lady from up the road fell and burst her nose because of the loose gravel that is on the road and there’s nobody to complain to. Each time that we make a complaint, they say it’s a political thing. Only one [People’s National Party] man ever won in this community and it’s Patrick Rosegreen. It has just been Labourites, so the support that they have inside this community, they just take it for granted,” added Samuels.
When The Gleaner contacted Malahoo Forte, she said that work is slated to be carried out on the Moy Hall road under the Government’s SPARK Programme.
“The road is submitted for fixing. There were some delays, but the road is a top priority for fixing, and I think the arrangements are just being finalised for the contract,” the MP said.
Crawford, who is the deputy mayor on Montego Bay, says he has been working to provide a respite for Moy Hall residents by patching sections of the road.
“The damage that you see on the road right now is a result of the drain work done in the community. Since the public outcry, I have made many attempts to gradually improve the roadway. ... I honestly appreciate the concern of the residents and because of that, I am trying my best. It is not in file 13 at all,” said Crawford.