A week after taxi operators withdrew their services to protest bad road conditions, rehabilitative work has begun on the Scotts Pass to Porus main road in Clarendon.

Communications manager at National Works Agency (NWA), Stephen Shaw said the road had been earmarked for repairs.

“We had it on the agenda to be repaired. It was put to tender for the proprietary work but we held back pending an issue we had with the supply of the asphaltic concrete material. We did not want to start the proprietary work and leave the area exposed for any long period of time, and that is what caused the delay on our part,” Shaw told the Jamaica Observer’s weekly Auto magazine.

He said the work to be done is a combination of localised rehabilitation and patching, which includes correcting already existing bad patches to make the road a little smoother for motorists.

The project is expected to last for a maximum of eight weeks and is estimated to cost $36 million.

Meanwhile, Lothan Cousins, Member of Parliament for Clarendon South Western, said he is grateful for the work that is being done and is hoping that other areas which need attention will be attended to.

“The Whitney Turn to Scotts Pass area is currently being worked on. Sections of Clarendon Park are also being patched as well as the bad patch in the vicinity of Juici Patties. I understand that they are trying to sort out those areas to ensure there are no major disruptions in the flow of traffic for the duration of the work,” he said.

On Monday, May 3, irate motorists used their vehicles to block a section of the Scotts Pass main road on the border of Clarendon and Manchester, causing a huge pile-up of traffic stretching into sections of Mandeville.

The protesters argued that since the heavy rains lashed the island over eight months ago, no attempt was made to improve the thoroughfare which was badly damaged.