SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — Hugh Buchanan recalls that in the build-up to narrowly winning the St Elizabeth South Western seat in December 2011, a constant plea from residents was “when yu get in mek sure yu fix the Ridge Pen Road”.

Four years and multiple roadblock demonstrations later, Buchanan and locals have good reason to believe that their dream is at hand.

Last month, Buchanan was among witnesses at a formal contract signing at the Watchwell Square for reconstruction of the crucial

5.7 kilometre stretch of road.

And word yesterday from contractors DR Foote Construction Company Ltd was that work on the $99.7-million project will begin on Tuesday. It is scheduled to last six months.

The badly scoured and potholed Ridge Pen Road connects Mountainside to Watchwell. By extension, it is a vital link between the thriving south coast tourism centre Treasure Beach and the central and northern sections of

St Elizabeth including Lacovia and Santa Cruz.

In recent years, the low-lying Ridge Pen Road has mostly being a tortuous drive on the verge of being impassable. Attempts at superficial marling and resurfacing have provided only temporary relief, until the next series of heavy rains.

Over the last four years there have been no fewer than five roadblock demonstrations led by taxi operators to dramatise the poor state of the Ridge Pen and related roads on the stretch from Lacovia to Treasure Beach.

Earlier this year, former Prime Minister PJ Patterson, added his voice to those calling for urgent rehabilitation of access roads linking Treasure Beach to central and northern St Elizabeth.

The current project is being funded by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) which is also spending another $14.7 million for patching work on the Lacovia to Mountainside stretch.

Phillip Foote, representing the contractors, told the Jamaica Observer that the reconstruction work at Ridge Pen will involve establishment of “six inches of base course material” topped by an inch and a half of asphaltic concrete. An essential additional element will be water run-off outlets, he said.

Buchanan told those at the contract signing that he had turned to the TEF for help because Ridge Pen and related roads connected Treasure Beach to leading tourism attractions including the Jamaica Zoo at Burnt Savannah, Holland Bamboo as well as points further north including YS Falls, the Maroon village of Accompong and Appleton Estates.

Buchanan said that after early attempts at marling, it became very evident that only a “proper” and comprehensive rebuilding project would be of lasting value for the Ridge Pen Road.

“I want you to understand that it has taken a long time, not because we didn’t want to fix the road but because we wanted to source the funding to ensure that once we fix this road properly, it will be another 20, 30 years before we have to come back here again,” he told cheering residents.

Tourism minister, Wykeham McNeill, said in the build-up to sourcing funds for the road, he was struck by the consensus across political party lines that the link between Lacovia and Treasure Beach should be a priority project in St Elizabeth.

“Not PNP, not JLP, everyone thought that this road was an important road and a priority road to fix,” said McNeill.

He said that the decision to use TEF funds on the project was in line with his ministry’s determination to build a strong and viable tourism product all over Jamaica and not just on the exotic north coast.

“Tourism is not only about the north coats or resort areas, not only about where you have beach and sun and sand but … across the length and breadth of Jamaica there are things important in our heritage and culture that our visitors want to come and see,” said McNeill.

Furthermore, he said, poor road surfaces represented a major problem for Jamaica’s tourism product. “Fact of the matter is, you want Jamaicans and visitors to move around (but) sometimes the problem is you can’t drive on the road,”

he stated.

An upbeat Minister of State for Transport and Works Richard Azan said the planned road development was another example of “joined up” governance by the Portia Simpson Miller-led People’s National Party (PNP) administration. He ridiculed those whom he claimed had alleged that the contract signing was the result of imminent elections. Azan argued that there had been no talk of early elections when project planning started earlier this year.

Councillor for the Mountainside Division, Derrick Sangster, who represents the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) gave the welcome address at the signing ceremony. He later told the Sunday Observer that the contract signing had made him “very happy”.

“It is in a terrible condition

for driving and even foot traffic and we are very happy now that it is to be reconstructed and rehabilitated,” he said.

Sangster noted that one of the main “problems” over the years has been the tendency by some residents to block drains with “garden walls”. This was a practice that would have to be prevented going forward in order to protect the rehabilitated road, Sangster said.