THE National Works Agency will begin corrective work on sections of the seawall and roadway along the heavily travelled Kent Avenue in Montego Bay within the next two weeks, according to communications manager Vando Palmer.

“We have now completed the design for the reconstruction of the wall and we are now negotiating with the contractor to do the work, which should begin within two weeks,” Palmer told the Observer in an interview.

He was unable to provide the cost or timeframe for the project, as negotiations are still under way.

About two months ago, the retaining sea wall broke away, leaving a cavernous gap in the sidewalk and some deterioration of the roadway. The damaged area is near the popular Dead End free beach, which is heavily used by locals; and it is also near the Sandals Inn hotel.

“It looks like a joke for (a gaping hole like that to be in) the tourism capital. But even more importantly we have a lot of locals who spend their time in front of that beach. I’ve seen children walking up and down inside the hole,” said general manager of Sandals Inn, Wayne Cummings. “But what frightens me the most is that the integrity of the entire sidewalk has been breached. There are cracks running along, it gets longer and longer and pieces keep on falling in. It’s not cordoned off properly, you could find yourself in it if you are not careful.”

Palmer could not explain why the area has not been properly cordoned off but said that either metal or concrete barriers would be erected around the area by next week.

“I really could not tell you (why it has not been cordoned off) because I would have thought that that would have been a given, especially given the sensitivity of that particular area to not just our local people but to our visitors as well,” he said. “I don’t want to seem to be blaming anybody or casting aspersions but that’s my gut feeling.”

He also sought to address questions on the length of time it had taken for the repairs to get under way.

“The first thing is that we had to redesign the wall, you have to take into consideration the factors that resulted in its collapse,” he said. “Then you do a search for the original design that was there then you go and, having been aware of the factors that caused the problem, develop a design that would take that into consideration that would prevent that kind of a recurrence.”

He added that there are also plans to have the same contractor who will work on the Kent Avenue sea wall do re-constructive work on the Belmont sea wall in Westmoreland, which was also damaged during a bout of bad weather.