The potholes at the intersection of Knutsford Boulevard and Trinidad Terrace in New Kingston, over which intense finger-pointing continues, re-emerged a week after being fixed by the National Works Agency (NWA).

Two weeks after that, there are now two quickly growing potholes at the same spot, which the New Kingston Civic Association (NKCA) says are a daily reminder that the area lacks proper drainage.

“Since they diverted the water by adjusting the level of the road, the twin potholes are not at the exact spot as the older ones, but they are still at the same intersection and have quickly grown, said Stephen Facey, chairman of the NKCA. “If there was proper drainage, the water would not settle there,” he insisted.

Facey told the Sunday Observer that the problem had worsened as the pressure on the area’s infrastructure increased with the escalation of New Kingston’s night life and car-washing.

But the problem could be solved if the drainage system running along Dominica Drive, Grenada Crescent and Barbados Avenue – installed by Life Of Jamaica (LOJ) in the late 1980s – were extended.

Facey was supported by Rachel Gore-Salter, NKCA manager who said the infrastructure was insufficient when New Kingston was first developed. There was no sub-drainage and the one put in by Life of Jamaica, (LOJ) “only serves one side of New Kingston”.

“The west side, with First Caribbean International Bank, National Commercial Bank (NCB) and the restaurants have no drainage and thus the recurrent pothole in that intersection, which is the lowest point in New Kingston,” said Gore-Salter.

Speaking for the NWA, Vando Palmer, communications and customer service manager, said that the drainage had not yet been installed because the public utility companies had not yet identified their underground wiring.

“Preliminary design is done, but we are now waiting on the National Water Commission (NWC) and Cable & Wireless to locate their underground utilities on Knutsford Boulevard and Trinidad Terrace, for us to complete the design,” Palmer told the Sunday Observer.

Palmer said the drainage system would be put in at an estimated 2002 cost of J$12 million, but the contract had not yet been put to tender.

He added that the NWA planned to put manholes at the pothole-plagued intersection, along Trinidad Terrace, and across the Kingston and Saint Andrew Corporation’s parking lot on Trinidad Terrace, leading into the existing drainage system on Dominica Drive.

But Palmer also partially blamed the New Kingston proprietors for the recurring eyesore.

“Some of these restaurants have drainage pipes under the sidewalk which are discharging water onto the road. This and the chemicals in the water they use to wash the sidewalks cause the road’s rapid deterioration.”

Facey dismissed Palmer’s comment on underground drainage pipes as “misleading”, saying that they were roof drains designed to carry rain water downward.

He contended that the asphalt deteriorated quickly because the water had nowhere to go and not because of chemicals in the water used for washing the sidewalks.

NKCA immediate past manager, Dayton Wood, also commented that the weekly sidewalk washings were not the main contributor to the road’s rapid deterioration.

“The businesses on Trafalgar Road, running down Knutsford Boulevard, wash their sidewalks because of the night activities on the hip strip, to which both patrons and the homeless contribute. But the main problem lies with the original engineers, as car wash water all the way from John R Wong Supermarket on Tobago Avenue, approximately 200 metres up, finds its way to that potholed intersection.”

The Ministry of Health also told the NKCA this year that the potholes were caused by sewerage water running from the restaurants, according to Wood.

When contacted, Courtney Lawes, vice-president of NWC, contended that New Kingston’s problem was one of drainage.

But New Kingston restaurateurs were not interested in the blame game between the NKCA and the NWA.

“We are tired of this back and forth, we need drainage. The NWA and the NKCA have to agree on a decision,” says one exasperated marketing manager at one of the area’s major restaurants.

The proprietor of Panda Village restaurant also found that “the dialogue between the NKCA and the NWA is too long”. He said that his customers frequently complained about the potholes.

In the meantime, Woods also pointed to another pothole caused from settled water in front of Anbell near the First Caribbean International Bank, at the intersection of Grenada Crescent and Knutsford Boulevard.

– Ann-Margaret Lim