Kilmarnock residents beg for better roads

"We want better roads!" is a chant that residents of Kilmarnock, St Elizabeth, have brought over in 2020.

They are complaining that the main road is so bad, that it's almost impassable.

A resident, who goes by the name of 'Tall Man', told THE CENTRAL STAR some work is much needed on the roads within the community.

"We woulda want the MP fi come fix up the likkle piece a road fi we ... it nuh tan good ova yah and a up yah dem get di most vote and thing... especially the PNP people dem. A long time we a call fi some better road ... long time! We talk to di MP dem man and we nuh see weh dem come do nothing bout it," he said.

While living in the community for more than 30 years, he recalls only one instance when the roads were fixed.

"Dem fix the road one long time ... me caa even remember when. Dem come fix up deh suh weh day ... a di farthest dat dem go," he said pointing to the top of the road. "Nothing more ... dem say money done."

Likewise, Annakay Clarke, a motorist, says the roads are not conducive to maintaining a fully functional vehicle.

"It has been like this fi di past 10 years or more. We want it to be fixed. It being in this condition is very bad for my vehicle. Yuh know how much parts I had was to change! Right now I have two front tracks to go and change because of this road. And every day we have to be on it back and forth, like two to four times a day," she said.

She highlights the struggle that is presented when more than one vehicle travels on the same route.

"It's pretty bad and there's nothing that has been done to it for quite some time now. It's very hard when two vehicles are passing at once. It's either one have to reverse so the other can pass. It's very hard," she said.

Kilmarnock sits on the border of Westmoreland and St Elizabeth. Attempts to reach J.C. Hutchinson, the MP for North West St Elizabeth, were unsuccessful yesterday. However, Luther Buchanan, the MP for Eastern Westmoreland, said he is aware of bad roads in the area and has been lobbying for repairs to them.

"Some of these roads, neither the Constituency Development Fund nor the parish council will have money so we anxiously await increased and equitable allocations to effect repairs to these roads," he said.