MONTEGO BAY, St James – Protests over poor road conditions in Hanover and Westmoreland on Monday marred the start of the new school year in the western region.

In Santoy, Hanover, the Church Hill Primary School did not reopen as planned, due to a massive roadblock mounted in the area by irate residents to highlight the poor state of the roadway.

The residents charged that the road has been in a deplorable state for several years and despite numerous requests to their member of Parliament, Ian Hayles, nothing has been done to rectify the situation.

Hayles later told the Observer that while he did not support the blocking of the road, he “understands” the concerns of the residents.

“The roads have been in a very bad state for a very long time and I have made several requests to the minister of transport and works (Mike Henry) and the National Works Agency (NWA) concerning the matter, but to date they have not responded favourably,” said Hayles, who has been the MP for Hanover Western since September 2007 after winning the seat on the People’s National Party (PNP’s) ticket.

He, however, pledged to intensify his lobby for the road conditions in the area to be addressed.

Meanwhile, in the neighbouring parish of Westmoreland, minibus and taxi operators plying the Belmont to Ferris route, withdrew their service, citing worsening road conditions along the route.

They were later joined by scores of residents who for hours formed a human blockade along sections of the roadway, preventing motorists from traversing the usually busy thoroughfare.

The protest action resulted in hundreds of students attending the Manning High School, Godfrey Stewart High School, Blufield High School, Black River All-Age School; New Hope Junior High School and Mernsville All-Age School, turning up late for classes.

Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Eastern, Luther Buchanan later told the Observer that the road between Whitehouse and Ferris has been in a poor state for several years.

He, too, said that he has been unsuccessful in his efforts to secure funding to have the roadway repaired.

That aside, education ministry officials for the western region said that things went fairly well for students in the region.

“From all reports everything went fairly smooth – apart from the problem at Church Hill Primary which was not school related. The schools were adequately furnished and the teachers prepared to conduct classes,” said Devon Ruddock, the Ministry of Education’s director for Region Four.

But some schools in the region told the Observer that they experienced a shortage of spaces.

In St James, principal at the Catherine Hall Primary and Infant School, Yvonne Gordon, said her school did not have the capacity to deal with the demands for space.

“Right now we have over 1,400 students,” Gordon told the Observer. “Space is a problem. We have had to turn away some of the students who turned up this morning for accommodation,” she said, adding that more classrooms were needed.

“We need more classrooms at the moment. Right now we have 40 to fifty students in a class and the ratio should have been 35,” she argued.

There were also reports of overcrowding at a few other schools in the parish.

In Trelawny, Principal of the Granville Primary School Ivanhoe Gordon reported that the co- educational institution had a smooth start.

“We had an excellent start. All the students have settled in nicely,” Gordon boasted.

The school – one of the better known in the parish – usually has an overcrowding problem.

But Gordon said Monday that so far the institution, which has a student population of roughly 460, has not been faced with that problem, adding that the institution has adequate furniture.

The Wait-A-Bit Primary and the Lowe River Primary and Junior High schools in Telawny, also reported a smooth start.