RESIDENTS of Lime Tree District in Mavis Bank, St Andrew, are desperate to have their road repaired as they have been cut off since the passage of Hurricane Beryl which ravaged sections of the island.

Lime Tree is within the St Andrew East Rural constituency which is represented by Member of Parliament Juliet Holness, who is also Speaker of the House of Representatives.

A visit to the small farming community on Saturday revealed several sections of the dirt road split in two, due to the rain brought by the devastating hurricane almost three weeks ago.

“Mi tired!” wailed Bernice Simon who was on her way to church, as she struggled to navigate the hilly terrain.

“Every major hurricane this part of the road breaks away. Nobody can go out, nobody can come in,” Simon told the Jamaica Observer.

Her husband, Artnel Simon, a respected clergyman who pastors Lime Tree Seventh-day Christian Church, said the damaged road is partly due to “uncleaned drains and a retaining wall that was built too high, so the water diverts into the main road”.

A mason by profession, Pastor Simon also believes that political representatives should “use up the tradesmen in the community to get the work done so they can get an income as well”.

Characterised as “bad road” for more than four decades, community members have mainly been the ones to organise fund-raising projects and workdays to repair various sections of the rocky track. Their efforts are supported by former residents who now live in the Diaspora.

Cecil Campbell, who works closely with councillor for the area Lloyd Benjamin (Mavis Bank Division, Jamaica Labour Party) promised the residents that “the workmen are coming today to clear up the road”.

However, there was no sign of the tractor drivers when our news team left the community on Saturday evening, leaving the residents feeling marooned.

It appears that the deeply damaged road will need stones to refill the holes created but Pastor Simon advised that, “it would be best for them to use the debris from the community first before going to Yallahs River to get stones, which has happened in the past”.

Tifony Bolton, co-owner of Lime Tree Farm which provides eco-friendly, Blue Mountain holiday cottages to its guests, said the hurricane season has economic implications for the business.

“We are closed down. They said it is an active hurricane season so we had to close for this season. The last set of guests we had were from the Cayman Islands. Hopefully, things will pick up quickly afterwards,” said Bolton.

In the meantime, some people in the community are still without electricity even though the majority of residents have had their power restored.

“Everybody else have light expect me. Imagine not having light and JPS [Jamaica Public Service] sending me bill,” complained a disappointed Doreen Johnson.

“Since the hurricane I have spent over $30,000 to buy gas for the generator. I can’t afford it any more. I have called JPS a couple times and some men have come. It’s not a good feeling knowing that others have light and I don’t have any, and I paid my last bill just before the hurricane,” Simon bemoaned.