Dear Editor,

The condition of the Braeton road leading to the Dunbeholden main road and onto the Spanish Town bypass is a national embarrassment and a dangerous one.

This gazetted main road is one of the designated evacuation routes for Portmore, yet it has deteriorated into a hazardous stretch of deep potholes, broken surfaces, and poor drainage. When it rains, sections become nearly impassable, with water-filled craters posing serious risks to motorists and pedestrians.

This is also the main artery residents depend on to access medical care, food, and employment, with more than 80 per cent of residents working outside the area. When this road fails, daily life is disrupted at every level.

For transportation providers, this is an assault on their livelihoods, with daily vehicle damage, from destroyed tyres to broken shocks, bent rims, and worn suspension, which reduces their ability to earn. Private motorists face the same burden, with constant repairs and mounting expenses simply to use a road that should be functional. Ironically, these same vehicles are required to pass road fitness standards yet are forced to operate on roads that are anything but fit.

This matter was raised in Parliament, yet we are told there are no provisions in the 2026/2027 budget to fix this critical roadway. None! Are we, as tax-paying citizens, to accept that a vital evacuation route is not a priority?

At the same time, there is talk of creating a “new parish” while long-standing issues like Braeton road and its environs remain ignored. Is this governance, or optics?

With plans for the building of 5,000 to 10,000 new homes in the area and the hurricane season fast approaching, the question is urgent: What is the plan? This evacuation route urgently needs to feel the SPARK (Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network) before the whole pack of matchsticks burns out.

Enough delay! Time for action, not a bag a mouth!

This is not just a road — it is a lifeline. Act now!

Nikeisha Nelson Gordon

Concerned citizen

Portmore, St Catherine

nikeishangordon@gmail.com