Chester Castle road littered with derelict vehicles, councillor unhappy
Published:Monday | January 13, 2025 | 12:06 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:
Wynter McIntosh, the councillor for the Chester Castle division in the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), is calling on the corporation’s roads and works department and the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) to remove the growing number of derelict vehicles now littering the roadway in his division.
According to McIntosh, abandoned derelict vehicles are now a common sight in community, such as Bessi Baker, Haughton Grove and Chester Castle in his Eastern Hanover division. He said the vehicles are posing a threat to the health and safety of residents.
McIntosh, who has been complaining about HMC’s roads and works department and the NSWMA for the past three months, and the danger the vehicles pose, told the recent monthly meeting of the HMC that the situation is finally being addressed, thanks to Lavern Morris, the chief engineering officer of the HMC, who visited the area and has been placing removal notices on the vehicles.
“I want to say thanks to the chief engineering officer because for months, I have been speaking about some old derelict vehicles scattered across the Chester Castle division space, and despite the many promises nothing much has transpired with regard to their being removed,” said McIntosh.
“Last month I was promised by Mr Mark Jones [the public cleansing manager] at the NSWMA, that yes, action will be taken, yet the only person that has taken any action to date is the HMC’s superintendent, who has served some notices,” added McIntosh.
McIntosh, who is a former mayor of Lucea, expressed much disappointment that the NSWMA is not onboard with the HMC in visiting the area, saying they too need to act regarding clearing the area of what he now describes as “a nuisance and health hazard”.
According to the councillor, some of the vehicles are occupied by rats and are also a breeding grounds for mosquitoes. He said if the situation is not addressed urgently, the Hanover Health Department could well face an outbreak in mosquito-borne ailments.
The NSWMA officer, who was present at the meeting, had no immediate response to the concerns posed by McIntosh, but promise to report the matter to her superiors.