WESTERN BUREAU – Residents of Tangle River in St James have built a makeshift road linking Montego Bay and their community, ahead of government technocrats who are still considering their options, and have applied a $50-charge for its use.

Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister Derrick Kellier told the Observer this week that the government was looking at ways to either construct a new road or repair the old one.

The original road was destroyed during Hurricane Ivan when it was cut in two by a landslide, which cut off Tangle River from a number of other areas. It has since been a challenge to road users travelling to Montego Bay, who have had to use an alternative route through Maroon Town, which adds an additional five miles to their journey.

Having seen the difficulties, Tangle River residents said they opted to do something about it. A number of community men subsequently got permission to clear a section of private land near the old road to develop an alternative.

They constructed the new road using marl and stones and then applied the $50-user fee, which they said is geared at recovering the $40,000 that was spent on the road. Motorists do not seem to mind the fee, insisting that they their daily journey has been made easier by the new road.

Gayle Myers, 52, one of the persons behind the idea for the toll idea, said the move was not that lucrative but that they were satisfied with the income being generating.

“For a taxi we charge $100 a day. For a driver going one way we charge $50. The road was established about five weeks ago, but we just start to collect about two weeks ago,” Myers, with a toothless grin, told the Observer.

He added that, on average, they made over $4,000 a day from the ‘toll’ – a sum that is divided among the six men who worked on the road.

Bunny Kentish, a farmer whose land a section of the road runs through, said he had readily decided to provide a section of his land for the rerouting of the road since he had been having problems transporting his produce to the market. According to Kentish, he had to travel about two miles with his produce on his head to reach the roadway in order to get a bus. The buses now pass his gate.

“The road now helps everybody: police, children, nurse, doctors. The road is helping the community on a whole. Many people are thankful for it,” he said. Meanwhile the residents said they do not accommodate heavy units on the road since it has a soft spot and they do not want to risk another slippage. “Is a’right still, even though is a marl road. It cut de journey a whole heap because wi don’t have to travel all de way ’round Maroon

Town,” said taxi operator Neville Reid.

Salesman Garfield Baker echoed his sentiments.

“Sometimes I am pressed for time when I want to reach some location and I always use this road,” said Baker, who travels between St James and St Elizabeth daily.

“When the hurricane broke away the road it was difficult for we because I had to take a long journey around Westmoreland. Paying $50 is not a problem because I use much more gas taking the longer journey.”

Justice of the Peace Rose Wright, who allowed her driveway to be part of the road, said she had agreed after seeing children wade through bushes and mud to get to and from school. “When I looked at the children coming down it was sad.

Some of them had to go back home because some of them fell into the mud. So I said if I could get the folks next door to agree, I could get a little road fix there so that they could walk,” she said. “So, I checked the lady next door and she agreed, and along with my nephew and other young men they started working and build this road.”