MONTPELIER, St James — Member of Parliament-elect for St James Southern Nekeisha Burchell on Monday commiserated with placard-waving transport operators who parked their vehicles and took to the streets in a peaceful protest to call attention to a crater-riddled stretch of the Montpelier main road.

“Based on the reports I’ve been getting from the taxi operators and commuters who are out here this morning, they’ve reached a point of frustration, a breaking point,” she told the
Jamaica Observer.

“They have been enduring these untenable conditions for well over a year, and they have reached a point where there is no communication to them and they are citing this as neglect,” asserted Burchell who, on September 3, won the seat on a People’s National Party (PNP) ticket by beating the Jamaica Labour Party’s Homer Davis and reclaiming what has traditionally been a PNP stronghold.

“They have no choice but to demand the attention of not just the local officials but at the level of the prime minister, if necessary, to come and get us some attention to this problem. It needs to be remedied now,” Burchell declared.

According to her, residents have complained that asthma and other respiratory illnesses are affecting their families. She also said business owners, particularly restaurant operators, are concerned that the constant build-up of dust is unsanitary. Worried about food safety, they have been forced to clean a lot more frequently — a costly and time-consuming effort.

When the
Observer visited the area Monday morning, operators of public passenger vehicles who often use the Montpelier main road insisted it is unusable. They complained that it damages their vehicles and makes what used to be a 25-minute drive now drag on for 90 minutes.

“We are going through chaos in the daytime, we are going through hell! We are going through problems with the front end and the backend, damage to the undercarriage of the motor vehicles,” taxi operator Linval Walters told the
Observer.

“We need a better road from today. We need some answers, man!” he demanded.

His colleague, who gave his name as Skippy, said the situation has been exacerbated by ongoing work to rehabilitate a pipeline that runs along that section of the road.

Work is being done on the $585-million Shettlewood to Anchovy Pipeline project which is expected to improve the water supply for 11,000 residents in that section of St James.

“A pure pothole! And the one little good part that was there, them dig it up and put in pipeline. We have to talk the thing [because] a we a feel it, enuh. Wi a suffa,” Skippy said.

Another cabbie who gave his name as Joseph said the state of the road has created health issues for him.

“Back pain a kill me every night because a pure big hole wi a drop in right through,” he lamented.

“All we need is just the road fi fix, enuh, that’s it. Nothing nuh hard bout that,” Joseph continued.

They have warned that if action is not taken swiftly they cannot guarantee a return to normal operations.

Member of Parliament-elect for St James Southern Nekeisha Burchell speaks with protesting cabbies in Montpelier on Monday..

Protesters in Montpelier, St James, Monday..