HANOVER, Jamaica — Two people have been taken into custody after a protest over shoddy roads in Hanover turned ugly. Fire was set to a section of the Northern Coastal Highway, disrupting traffic. More individuals are expected to be taken into custody, the police said.

“Two persons are in custody and other persons will be picked up,” head of the Hanover police division, Superintendent Sharon Beeput told OBSEVER ONLINE.

The protest, which began peacefully Monday morning, saw residents venting their frustration over what they say are poor road conditions from Flint River to Pondside, Jericho to Cascade and Jericho to Claremont.

READ: Hanover residents tired of shoddy roads

In the morning, residents peacefully held up placards at the intersection of the Northern Coastal Highway and the entrance to Kew. However, reports are that the protest later escalated.

Member of Parliament (MP) for Hanover Eastern, Dave Brown (Jamaica Labour Party) told OBSERVER ONLINE that he believes the protest was politically motivated. He said residents were informed three weeks ago that the affected roads are among several slated to be fixed.

“My opinion is that whenever these roads are going to be fixed, there is a demonstration. We have seen it across the country in recent times. So, I believe that it must be something political,” said the second-term MP.

“Anywhere roads are earmarked to be fixed, once the announcement is made, you realise that there is a demonstration. I saw it recently in Kendal [Hanover] and I saw it in South Manchester. It is a trend,” he added.

Last month the Jamaica Observer reported that among the roads slated to be repaired were those from Jericho to Cascade, Flint River to Pondside, and Hopewell to Haughton Grove — with the Bamboo Drive section being given priority — and from Success onwards.

The Jericho to Cascade and the Flint River to Pondside roads are to be patched and overlaid at a cost of $24 million in time for Christmas. MP Brown said the delay was a result of recent rains and the contractor, Brighton Construction, currently being occupied on the Kendal Road in Hanover Western, which was the scene of a massive demonstration three weeks ago.

“They are currently doing the patching or overlaying of the Kendal Road in Hanover and we expect it to start very shortly… otherwise this road would have started already,” stated Brown.

He said residents can expect road repairs and Christmas bushing to be done at the same time, adding that the work was done on the Jericho to Claremont road which Prime Minister Andrew Holness had promised would be fixed. He noted, however, that a shortfall in the National Works Agency’s (NWA) estimate has resulted in some sections still in need of repair.

Brown said he is currently looking at spending $4 million from his constituency development fund to undertake the necessary repairs. He is hoping work will begin early next year, after the contract procurement process.

“The estimate was to do from point A to point B but we realised that the funding could not complete point A to point B. So, what I have done is to put some money from the Christmas funding to deal with that specifically. So, we expect to spend $4 million to cover all those open areas,” stated Brown.

– Anthony Lewis