WESTMORELAND, Jamaica – Morland Wilson, the member of parliament for Westmoreland Western, said he was shocked when heard that residents mounted a roadblock in Sheffield in the parish on Monday morning, even though he had told them that the road would be repaired in short order.

The disgruntled residents blocked the main thoroughfare from Savanna-La-Mar in protest of the poor road condition, which they say is causing their children to get ill as a result of the dust.

“I was a bit shocked this morning when I heard that despite communicating that the road will be fixed, persons still sought to go ahead and mount a road protest and create some disruption on the main thoroughfare from Sav into the Negril resort area,” he said.

Wilson told OBSERVER ONLINE that there have been several meetings with residents and that the road was scoped last week by the National Work Agency (NWA). He added that assessments have been done to begin repairs as soon as possible.

He added that funds have already been allocated for the road works.

Wilson noted that the road falls under the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation and, therefore, means that the councillor would be responsible.

“I came and I spoke with them and a lot of them are a bit relieved now. They are saying that despite [hearing that the road will be fixed] they wanted to hear from their MP,” Wilson told OBSERVER ONLINE.

Members of the police force managed to remove the boulders, tree stumps and debris that the disgruntled residents used to block the road, and a level of normalcy has now been regained.

– Kimberley Peddie