RESIDENTS of Oakland Crescent and surrounding communities in St Andrew South Western have issued an urgent and desperate plea to the National Works Agency (NWA) for the immediate repair to roads in the area, which they say have fallen into disrepair over the years.

The disgruntled residents claim that the main road in the community transforms into an uncharted river it rains, with heavy flooding further destroying the already dug-up street.

“There’s a small drain up the road, and when the rain falls and it overflows, this road here becomes the river. This actually becomes a river where fridge, TV [television], anything old, down to mattresses you see sailing down the road,” one resident, who asked not to be named, told the Jamaica Observer on Monday.

He explained that the drain has been an issue for years, with excess flooding resulting in the further depletion of the roads in the community.

According to the resident, he could recall the roads being in terrible condition as far back as September 2004, when Hurricane Ivan’s Category 4 winds struck Jamaica.

“That was when the road really was just bad. Over the years [State agencies] have come and they fix it, and it just goes back to the same state,” he said.

The resident charged that aside from flooding, the roads were almost impassable, causing disruptions to people who have vehicles, those who take taxis, and even blocking essential service vehicles from entering the community.

“It’s been years this has been going on. People have to park on the sidewalk when they come to church. The garbage trucks can’t come down here; we have to walk from our yards and carry the garbage to the top of the road. Sometimes, when the drain overflows, even dead animals wash down here and stink up the place, and we have to clean it up. All of these things are bad for us,” he said.

Another resident, who identified herself only as Kerry-Ann, said the situation has progressively got worse, not only due to frequent flooding, but also because of the disruption it causes to people’s daily lives.

“My daughter said that we can put fish in there and turn it into a fish pond. It’s years now the road has been decaying like this,” she said with sardonic laughter.

Kerry-Ann told the Observer that she had some hope when she saw workers from China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), who are contracted under the Government’s Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network (SPARK) programme, fixing sidewalks in the community in February 2026.

The programme is a $45-billion initiative launched to rehabilitate the nation’s deteriorating road network. Managed by the NWA, it focuses on both community-level roads and national main roads to improve accessibility and safety.

But Kerry-Ann noted on Monday that the road’s degradation has only continued to negatively impact the community.

“When you take taxi, they don’t want to come on this road. When people are coming to you, they cannot access you. You have to drive on the sidewalk. And then the main issue is the gully, when rain falls, all the water comes right down on this road. Everything floods out. It’s terrible,” she said.

Fellow resident, Harrison, said that while he understands that the road is under construction, he needs work to resume immediately because of worsening conditions.

“We want the road now, we really want it. Vehicles can barely enter my yard. I see my neighbour [doing construction] and the truck that’s carrying the material cannot make it inside the yard. It’s almost like the tyre was about to burst. We‘re asking the authorities to start the work now,” said Harrison.

Meanwhile, Brother Taylor from the Bible Apostolic Church in the community also expressed his frustrations to the Observer, as he explained that members of the congregation cannot get into the church yard, with many opting to either park on the sidewalk or at a neighbouring church.

“It’s been a long time that we are suffering with this road. Before they dug up the road we had a problem, but now that they have dug it up and claim that they are going to asphalt it, it’s worse. We also have a problem with the gully. Right now we’re asking them to hurry up, because it’s getting worse,” said Taylor.

Member of Parliament for the area, the People’s National Party’s Dr Angela Brown Burke, told the
Observer on Monday that she is well aware of the road issues affecting her constituents and was expecting the SPARK programme to provide them some relief.

According to Brown Burke, after work began and residents started voicing their complaints about flooding and worsening road conditions, she wrote to the NWA on several occasions seeking answers as to why the process was being stalled, but received no response.

“I was glad to see the road started because I know just how much persons in that area were looking forward to the work being completed. Several months later, they are nowhere because they basically abandoned the work as far as I am concerned; totally stopped the work and we cannot get a proper update.

“I think part of it is really the approach that the Government has, dealing with these issues. I don’t think that they believe they have a responsibility to citizens when they leave them in this kind of a position. It’s like you’re doing your backyard. You start it when you want, you stop it when you want, you hold off when you want. No big deal. And I think the Government has to understand that this is not their little backyard project. It affects a lot of persons. It affects their livelihood. It affects what they can do in their communities. It’s totally unacceptable,” charged Brown Burke.

Efforts made to contact the NWA were unsuccessful up to press time.

Residents point to the craters which pockmark Oakland Crescent in St Andrew. 

Work on the sidewalk gave residents of Oakland Crescent hope that SPARK would ignite in their community, but this has not happened since last year.