MANDEVILLE, Manchester — After heavy rains last year left many roads badly damaged, motorists in sections of Manchester Central are finding relief as a result of a project called ‘Road-A-Fix’ by Member of Parliament Rhoda Moy Crawford.

Crawford, a first-time MP representing the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), who unseated the People’s National Party’s Peter Bunting in last September’s parliamentary election, told the Jamaica Observer by telephone that $23.3 million has been spent to rehabilitate roads in the constituency since last November.

“We have been rehabilitating and patching varied roadways, some along the National Works Agency (NWA) corridors and some that are the responsibility of the municipal corporation… My reason for doing that is that in the communities, constituents live there and [they] have to commute using those roadways and the main road,” she said.

The rehabilitation of roads was one of Crawford’s campaign promises which she says falls under the top three priorities for the constituency: water, roads and access to education.

“Having lived in all the divisions in the constituency, I have a knowledge of where all the roadways are and those that are in need of repair,” she declared.

“The advantage of that is I don’t have to wait for someone to write my office or someone to call me to say, ‘Bwoy, Miss Crawford a pothole’ [is there]. I know where all the roads are,” she added.

“So far we have rehabilitated quite a number of roadways. [However] some roadways, because of the magnitude of the damage, the patching doesn’t make sense. In those instances, we do asphalt sheeting,” she said.

Farm roads in the constituency were repaired costing $4 million, through the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), and another $7 million was allocated for road repairs in other parts of the constituency.

“We have done partnerships, because all the resources have not come from one place. Under the Road-A-Fix initiative the first project started in November and that was a complete rehabilitation of the roadway in Top Coffee Grove, a farm road,” she said.

“In December, all MPs were allocated $7 million to do road repairs in our constituencies, and the timeline we had on that was to the end of March. I waited until January, because we had an allocation for de-bushing and beautification. I used December to do drain cleaning. You can’t start a road without drain cleaning and repair,” she said.

Communities benefiting from road rehabilitation included Ingleside, Blue Mountain, Manchester Road, Mandeville, and Knockpatrick.

Crawford said $2 million was allocated from the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to repair roads in Bottom Coffee Grove and Barnstaple.

“I also partnered with Councillor Cleon Francis (JLP) to carry out repairs to a road in Waltham Heights, costing $300,000,” said Crawford.

The MP said that following dialogue with the NWA, $10 million has been spent to repair other roads, including deCarteret Road, Melrose bypass, Villa Road to Royal Flat, Winston Jones Highway, Victor Dixon to May Day, Newleigh Road, and Old Kendal Road.

“The new fiscal year starts in a few days and already I have started to seek some external partnerships to do some other repairs in the constituency, because we know that the CDF cannot adequately respond to all the needs,” said Crawford

She is, meanwhile, looking forward to the US$188-million May Pen to Williamsfield leg of the east-west corridor of Highway 2000 which is on track for completion in October 2022.

“It is a welcomed initiative. We can hardly wait for it to be completed. It will drastically reduce travel time into and out of the constituency. I have already been in dialogue with the contractors of the project because not only is it a good look for the constituency, but it is providing employment opportunities for constituents,” she said.