OXFORD, Manchester — Placard-bearing residents on the north-west Manchester/southern Trelawny border demonstrated Tuesday as they called on the Government to give a timeline for the replacement of a collapsed bridge that, they say, has left them marooned.

The residents said they are at their wits’ end after being forced to use ingenious but risky ways to commute following the collapse of the bridge last August.

Cowick Park resident Dulcy Bromfield said the bridge is crucial to commute between northern, southern and central Jamaica.

“People have to go as far as Santa Cruz. This bridge is in the middle of Jamaica and it is very terrible. It is just like we are marooned,” she said.

“It is very dangerous to cross, because last week two people nearly drowned,” Bromfield added in reference to the use of a makeshift structure to cross the river.

She said that the collapsed bridge has caused inconvenience and higher travelling expenses for herself and her children.

“I cannot transfer my children [to another school], because that wouldn’t be appropriate for them. It used to take them half an hour to reach school and now we have to travel right around to go to Christiana,” she said.

Bromfield also said farmers are being affected by the collapsed bridge.

“It is very challenging and difficult for us. Nobody can come and buy any food from us,” she said.

Another resident, who asked not to be named, shared similar sentiments.

“We need to know what is going on to replace the bridge. When it rains, we cannot cross, because it is too dangerous. This is simply unacceptable. We here between Troy and Oxford have basically been neglected for the past 11 months,” he said.

Member of Parliament for Manchester North Western Mikael Phillips, whose constituency borders Trelawny Southern, said he sympathises with the residents.

“The demonstration that is taking place is over in south Trelawny, which has also been affected by the bridge, which is on the border. I understand the plight of the residents; I stand with the residents with this one as much as I don’t agree with the blocking of the road,” he said.

“It has been a long time in coming. It has been nearly one year now that the bridge has collapsed and we have not, up to this point, gotten even an estimate or what are the options even if there is no money there… It cannot take one year for a design to be done and a costing to be done,” he added.

Phillips added that it has been a discomfort and danger to the residents.

“… Because we have been having rains of late and people are unable to even cross the makeshift bridge that has been put there. A few weeks ago a young child had to be [rescued] from the water, and the next time it might just not be taking out that person alive, so the authorities have to act quickly on this. I have been saying that there is a disconnect with the Government and infrastructure in rural Jamaica,” he said.