TRELAWNY, Jamaica — Several commuters, including children, were left stranded on Monday morning as taxi operators plying the route between Falmouth and Wakefield in Trelawny withdrew their services over the deplorable road conditions in the parish.

The protestors gathered as early as 6:00 am.

The cabbies lined their vehicles along one side of the Hammersmith main road, with enough room for traffic to flow on the other side.

The taxi operators are appealing to the authorities to move swiftly to do repairs on the pothole-riddled road between Granville and Bounty Hall. They lament that they often have to dig deep into their pockets to cover the cost of repairing defects to their vehicles.

“It cost me $69,000 the other day to spend on my vehicle, leaving me with only $500 in my billfold,” a cabbie, who only identified himself as Cleve told OBSERVER ONLINE. “All of $69,000 just float off like that [because of] the condition of the road.”

The taximan added that he had to buy two tyres and on another occasion, he had to buy three at one go, as well as front-end parts.

Another protesting taxi operator chimed in: “If they can’t asphalt it right through, just patch out the potholes and give us some relief.”

The stretch of road in question forms part of the 16-kilometre thoroughfare between Falmouth and Springvale, which has been a source of discontent for many years, resulting in several protests by residents and motorists.

Member of Parliament (MP) for Trelawny Northern, Tova Hamilton had initially lobbied for repairs to be done on the entire corridor. However, after discovering that the project would cost more than $800 million, (which, she said, was unavailable), the first-time MP settled for undertaking the upgrading on a phased basis.

This resulted in a $200-million rehabilitation project on the Wakefield to Deeside corridor, which was followed by repairs on the Martha Brae to Holland Road that was recently completed at a cost of $15 million.

The cabbies are threatening to intensify their protest on Tuesday if they do not get an acceptable update.

– Horace Hines