MANCHESTER, Jamaica — Residents of the upscale community of Ingleside in Mandeville are demanding that the National Water Commission (NWC) repair a section of the roadway that has been dug up for the second time in months.

The residents contend that the road, which was patched earlier this year, was dug up by the NWC to connect a pipeline to new homes along Battersea Road in the community and has been left in a deplorable state for months.

Prominent medical doctor Clive Lai, who is an executive member of the Ingleside Citizen’s Association, said the road was patched recently by a citizen after months of the NWC’s previous work.

“We see the NWC at work. Months ago they came to dig up this same road to this apartment complex… After we thought they connected the pipes, they just threw back the dirt inside the hole and never came back. Rains came and washed away the dirt. We had to negotiate the potholes,” he said on Tuesday.

“We did some patching here and there so that we could drive comfortably drive through it until about two weeks ago; a citizen paved it so that we could drive comfortably through, and we were so happy,” he added.

Dr Lai said the NWC has continuously failed to properly conduct timely repairs of roads that have been dug up.

“Today now I am coming from Kingston, and I see the NWC dig up back the road even deeper than before on two sides, and I got upset. How could they dig up something that we just paved? Nobody says anything, and now they are telling us they cannot promise us that they will patch it when they are finished. They have to wait weeks for it to settle, and they will have to get a contractor to do it when they have enough asphalt,” he said.

“This is just utter nonsense. We the citizens are very upset about it. We want to put pressure on the NWC to fulfil their commitment and promise to pave the road when they are finished,” he added.

He said the community does not have a consistent water supply.

“That is another joke. I don’t get water from the NWC because the pressure cannot reach my house. I rely on rain, and we haven’t been having any rain. I have to truck water to my house. NWC is not doing me a favour,” he said.

When contacted, a senior official at the National Water Commission opted not to speak on the record in responding to the residents’ complaints, as they were not aware of the issue in the area.

— Kasey Williams