AULDAYR, Westmoreland – Angry residents of Auldayr in Westmoreland yesterday blocked a half mile section of the road from Mearnsville to Waterwheel and Savanna-la-Mar to Whitehouse to protest against poor road conditions in the community.

The residents used powersaws to down trees, which they used to block the roadway. They reinforced the blockage with pieces of zinc and stones.

The protest, which started about 3:00 am, left hundreds of commuters, including students, stranded and caused traffic to pile up for over a quarter of a mile.

Acting Corporal Verona Martin of the Savanna-la-Mar Fire department said a team of seven people from the 575 units arrived on the scene at approximately 5:15 am and attempted to clear the road.

“We went into operation with two powersaws and two machetes, which we used to cut the trees and debris to clear the road,” Martin said.

“Police personnel came and they were assisting us to clear the streets. After [we reached] about three or four feet up the hill – close to the district – Auldayr people were there with stones and babies out in the street, and we tried to clear the road and they were telling us go back because they don’t need fire trucks, they need to see their representatives,” the acting corporal said.

The residents say both Member of Parliament Luther Buchanan and councillor O’Neil Anglin have made repeated promises which have not been kept.

Up to press time, the Observer could not reach Buchanan or Anglin for comments.

The road block was eventually cleared about 9:00 am. However, the residents have warned that if efforts to have the roadway repaired does not get under way within the next two weeks, they would block the roads again.

The Auldayr community, which is in the process of forming a Citizens Association, leads from Mearnsville into the hills through Retirement and back into the communities of Bluefields to Brighton. It has a total of 3,000 residents.

The community has five churches; an all-age school and a basic school run by the Salvation Army.