DESMOND Espeut is a very bitter man. He says his wife, daughter and granddaughter had to leave the family home on Fort Georges Road, Annotto Bay, because of constant asthma attacks.

This, he said, is caused by the cloud of dust that hangs heavily over the community during the dry period.

“My family had to move out because every minute I have to rush them to the doctor. It was costing me too much! It is better they stay somewhere else than to stay here,” Espeut said bitterly. “Right now they were planning to come stay with me for the summer and can’t come because of the dust.

I know the moment they come they will get sick – all three of them!”

Espeut has been living on Fort Georges Road for 34 years. He said the road has been in its present condition for the past 10 years.

“The dust is a major problem. We want the roads to be fixed. We can’t take this any longer, many other people here suffer from asthma and it is affecting them badly,” Espeut said.

The road, which spans eight miles, has long since lost its asphalt surface and is now a mass of loose dirt and fine gravel. The moment you drive on the road the vehicle leaves in its path a cloud of dust that dissipates slowly. And with houses only metres from the road, it’s easy to understand Espeut’s plight.

“Politics is a form of victimisation. We have PNP Member of Parliament and JLP councillor. We hardly see any of them, so you find that the two of them sailing in the same boat,” Ashnel Carty, another resident, said.

“The MP passes through here sometimes, but we don’t know what he has to say. This is a major road because whenever the main road is blocked, this is the alternative route to get to the town,” Carty explained.

When contacted, minister Harry Douglas said the contract for the fixing of the roads is out to tender, but since the expected amount for repairs to the eight miles of road is over $15 million, it has to go to Cabinet as is mandatory for any project of this size. This, he said, takes time.

“It has to go to the appropriate committees. It doesn’t happen overnight because we want to do it properly. If we don’t, the roads will be damaged again in no time and we will be back at square one,” Douglas said. “I think the different regulations you have to go through are too much but that is the law.”

He noted that the people are kept abreast of what is happening and from time to time patch work is carried out on the road to prevent further deterioration.

Fort Georges Road is one of the major roads leading off the main in Annotto Bay that serves a number of industrial business and major districts, such as Boxers Mountain, Camber Well, Long Road and Pleasant Hill. The road serves over 2,000 residents.