BROWN’S TOWN, St Ann — Tired of patched roads th at they say don’t last long, taxi operators are clamouring for a more durable fix to the roads between Brown’s Town and Runaway Bay as well as Brown’s Town and Discovery Bay in this north coast parish.

“As dem patch di road, it dig out back,” Everol Smith, a taxi driver, lamented.

His view is shared by his colleague Roland Brooks.

“Dem patch the road from Brown’s Town to Discovery Bay so much till there is nowhere to patch again; they need to pave it. We heard a long time ago that they were going to fix it, but all the time they patch halfway and leave half,” Brooks further told the Jamaica Observer.

He said the road deteriorated rapidly partly due to what he considers to be rushed pipe-laying work done ahead of the September 2020 General Election.

“They didn’t fix back that road between Brown’s Town and Discovery Bay properly. As soon as heavy-duty trucks drive on it, the potholes start to sink and the pipes start to burst,” Brooks claimed. “But anybody who fix the road now, I tell you, would get a lot of political support.”

Another taxi operator, Oniel Peart, is mulling protest action over the bad roads.

“If the road dem nuh fix wi a guh block dem, because wi a wait too long now fi dem fix,” he asserted.

Peart also expressed his dissatisfaction that while a number of roads around Brown’s Town are in deplorable condition, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development is spending millions to give the town a facelift.

“Dem a fix up di town and wi nuh have nuh good road fi drive come inna di town,” he said in puzzlement.

Nicholas Reid, another taxi driver, told the Observer that the “humongous potholes” have been putting a dent in cabbies’ pockets.

“Wi have to be spending more money to buy tyres and front-end parts,” he said.

Drivers are also exposed to life-threatening risks while trying to manoeuvre the potholes, according to Henry Johnson, a taxi operator.

“When you should be staying on the left-hand side of the road, you have to be dodging and dilly-dallying to avoid potholes. That is very dangerous and it can cost lives,” Johnson further claimed.

Member of Parliament for St Ann North Western, Krystal Lee said the minister responsible for works, Everald Warmington, has informed her that funds will be allocated, starting this financial year, to rehabilitate the Brown’s Town to Runaway Bay road in two phases.

“Based on the nature of what is happening, I cannot get two huge projects at the same time. The fact that Minister Warmington confirmed to do Runaway Bay to Brown’s Town road, we are looking at remedial patching for those other roads,” she said.

The National Works Agency does remedial patching across all constituencies every three months, Lee noted.

She further said: “That road surface between Brown’s Town and Discovery Bay, as we know, would need some full rehabilitation. Until we are able to do that, we just have to continue with the remedial patching work, which is what we are doing… I am sure residents should expect to see more patching being done there very soon.”