Portand roads in need of repair

Member of Parliament for Eastern Portland Dr Lynvale Bloomfield is crying out to the Government for help as his constituency is on the brink of being cut off from the rest of the island because of the deterioration of the major roadways.

Bloomfield, who is in the first year of his second term as the parliamentary representative, told THE STAR that more than a dozen sections of the major roadway in the constituency have been ripped away due to years of neglect.

"I brought it to the attention of the National Works Agency a couple months ago and asked them to come and do inspection to determine the cost to repair them," Bloomfield explained.

He said there are massive breakaways in Comfort Castle in the Rio Grande Valley, Ginger House, West Retreat, Spring Bank and Long Bay.

"There are many others, and all of these have been reported but we are not getting the attention to put them together and to get the job done," Bloomfield said.

FACEBOOK VIDEO

In an attempt to save his community, which is considered as one of the main tourist attractions in the parish, a resident of Long Bay in the parish posted a video to Facebook showing the entrance of the roadway to his community, travelling westbound from St Thomas.

"I'm appealing to the authorities to do something fast because this is the major road from Port Antonio to Kingston, and look at this, yuh see wah a gwaan," the resident narrated, showing the roadway that has been eaten away so much that it has been transformed into one lane.

According to Bloomfield, the major roadway from Port Antonio to Morant Bay needs resurfacing.

"If the road is done properly to the level that we are seeing on the other side of Portland, then farmers will be able to carry out their produce and bring more tourists to this side of the parish," Bloomfield said.