SANKLE BAY, Portland — Vernon “Culture” Sewell left his house in Sankle Bay Beach, near the San San Old Road, in good condition on January 11 to tend to his nearby farm, but it was a nightmare when he returned home.

Sewell had to force his way into his house as the door was partially blocked. When he finally entered he found that a large boulder had crashed through the wall of his room.

“I had to walk around as I couldn’t come in, jump over as I couldn’t come through the door. The police came and said, ‘I’m not to move anything’ so a so the place stay since then. Mi radio mash up, mi bed mash up, mi glass, banana and cane dem too,” Sewell told the Jamaica Observer when our news team visited days after the incident.

The large rock was suspected to have rolled into the house from a construction site for the Southern Coastal Highway being built from Harbour View, St Andrew to Port Antonio, Portland.

At that time a livid Sewell blasted the contractor doing the road work and charged that they were ignoring him.

“The people them working on the road make this stone roll down, break the wall and come in here into my bedroom and they are not doing nothing. This happen Tuesday (January 11) and today is Sunday (January 16) and they not doing anythng.

“I report it at the police station and mi talk to the person who said him is the manager on the road. Him ask me if I see his tractor push the stone over here. But I tell him that I come from bush and see the stone here inside my house. I left my house with everything nice after eight o’clock and come home after six o’clock and see the stone here,” added Sewell.

When the Observer checked with communications manager at the National Works Agency Stephen Shaw he said, “The situation is that the consultants have received a report from the contractor. The report in essence suggests that the contractor cannot say that the rock fell into the house in connection with the work it was doing at the time.

“The consultants have undertaken to carry out their investigations into the incident in order to have a firm view on the matter. We await those investigations.”

But on Tuesday when our news team returned to the area it was a beaming Sewell who greeted the Observer.

“Dem repair the place on the 23rd of January after the incident happened on January 11. I feel good to know that it is was speedy thing. When it happen dem never a tek di blame… but mi did know a dem a work pon di road.

“But then dem come and look and mek everything alright and mi glad fi that as everything alright now,” said a smiling Sewell.

“They also fixed the bed and I have a little material left and I need some cement to finish fix out here but dem fix mi up still. Inside and outside fix up good. I can go back to sleep in my bed now and stop using the hammock. All I am telling them no mek no more stone roll down,” added Sewell.

He pointed out that a representative of Bacchus Engineering Works Limited, which is doing the work on the road, visited the house and examined the damage before making arrangements for the repairs.