WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — People’s National Party (PNP) Member of Parliament for Central Westmoreland, Dwayne Vaz, is calling on the Government to urgently repair the Paradise Bridge as its continued closure is “unacceptable.”

According to Vaz, the bridge, which is the main corridor leading to the parish capital and all other major towns along the extreme western belt of the island, was closed on November 5 by the National Works Agency (NWA) for repairs due to a breakaway, but work is yet to begin.

“It is now three weeks since the closure and there is no sign of any work being done. This is unacceptable,” Vaz said in a release.

He indicated that discussions with the NWA and other government officials on the matter have been to no avail as he was told that the design phase is yet to be completed.

Having regard for its importance to access to the parish capital and other towns, Vaz argued that it was expected that work would have started immediately.

However, manager of communication and customer services at the NWA, Stephen Shaw, in an interview with the OBSERVER ONLINE today, denied claims of delayed work on the bridge.

Shaw briefly stated, among other things, that work has actually begun on the bridge, arguing that “groundwork” is currently in progress.

He pointed out that the bridge is a structure which requires time to be effectively designed, not something that should be hastened.