Bad roads crippling Adelphi

As residents of Adelphi in St. James continues to eye the future with optimism, one of their immediate needs is for better roads, as the existing roads are now in ruins due to poor maintenance.

The residents said it is unlikely that any investor would ever consider the community for any serious investments, as the roads are in a deplorable condition.

"It has always been my dream to come back to Adelphi and invest because that is where I was born," said Rohan Williams, a Miami-based businessman. "However, with the poor state of the infrastructure, especially the roads, it is a risk I am not prepared to take at this time."

The motorists, who traverse the various roadways daily, say they are suffering financially as their vehicles regularly buckle under the pressure of trying to negotiate the bad roads.

"Yuh nuh see say the road want fix ... every weh pon de road stay bad," lamented one taxi operator, pointing to the pothole-littered roadway which he has to contend with daily.

The residents who depend on public transport to get around, openly expressed sympathy for the transport operators as they, too, joined in the call for proper road rehabilitation work to be done in Adelphi and the surrounding districts.

"A good while now a just bad roads we have fi deal with,î said Alicia Francis. "All mi see dem  do a some patchwork few months ago. Dem patch de little part and left de big parts same way ... what dem patch a dig up back already," she added.

Tameika Grant said the roads are equally bad in the neighbouring Dumfries and Lima districts. 

"We nuh know wah fi do because a di same way  Goodwill and Chatham road dem bad and no work being done," remarked Linton Anderson, one of the many residents who lashed out against the road conditions.

When the WESTERN STAR contacted Janel Ricketts, the acting communications and customer services manager at the National Works Agency, and asked about future plans for road restoration work in Adelphi, she said no immediate plans were in place.

"There is no major project slated for this road right now," said Ricketts. "However, in September we completed 700 square metres of patching on the road."