NEGRIL, Westmoreland — Stakeholders in Negril have welcomed $36 million in much-needed repairs being made to roads on the West End of the resort town.

Work is being done on the one-kilometre stretch from Hilton Avenue, a little past the Negril Lighthouse towards the Deep West near the Westender Inn. It is being sponsored by the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) and supervised by National Works Agency (NWA).

“This area is perfectly [suited] for Airbnb. So, to say that this piece of infrastructure is welcome is an understatement. One cannot overemphasise how happy the entire community is and we can only say thanks to the TEF and hope that they will continue to support this community. We pray that the Tourism Enhancement Fund will grow from strength to strength and that the board will continue to look in our direction,” stated operator of the popular One Love Bus Tour, Negril, Lenbert Williams.

He has described the project, which started more than a week ago, as “an awesome piece of work”.

According to Williams, the roads have been in a state of disrepair for a very long time.

“For many years that extension of road beyond the [Negril] Light House leading to Deeper West End has been so dilapidated and pothole-riddled that the community, so civic-minded, has to be patching it with cement, marl and small stones that don’t last long. They had written to the Tourism Enhancement Fund for some reprieve and it responded favourably, funding this project,” said Williams.

Executive director of TEF, Dr Carey Wallace expressed satisfaction with the quality of work being done.

“Most people are pleased with it because we are doing it to the standard where we know it will be sustainable. We are doing it so that water cannot settle on it and we can focus on other areas rather than having to come back after a rainy season. That is why it is only one kilometre [that has been done] for that kind of money; because we want to do it well so that it can last for decades,” he said.

Work is also being done on a section of the road in the vicinity of Mi Yard Restaurant.

“That one, a significant part of the scope is in the drainage part of it,” stated Wallace.

“It will extend the resort town of Negril because that road previously was a little bit of a parochial kind of country road that most persons would think end at the lighthouse. But the area has quite a number of hotels and villas that have developed. The need for us to provide infrastructure opens up that corridor to add to the offerings that destination Negril has, to facilitate not only more experience for our visitors but also more entrepreneurship and business opportunities for our people. That is why we decided to embark on that project,” explained Wallace who is originally from Negril.

Last month, residents of West End staged a peaceful protest to call attention to the state of their roads and the lack of piped water.