MEMBER of Parliament (MP) for St Catherine North Western Damion Crawford has rapped the Government for what he says is the lack of development in Linstead, one of the major towns in his constituency.

Crawford has also questioned why two major roads in the constituency, Ewarton to Lluidas Vale and Ewarton to Mount Rosser, were not considered for the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to Our Road Network (SPARK) Programme, or any other major roadworks programme.

Making his contribution to the 2026/27 State of the Constituency Debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, Crawford called on the Government to give urgent attention to these areas.

He argued that Linstead has developed way beyond its current infrastructure and called for the development of an urban centre in the town similar to the one that has been constructed in St Thomas.

On the matter of roads, Crawford said he was merely asking for fairness in how resources are allocated.

“Because unfortunately, at the point of decision-making, North West St Catherine had no consideration for Go-1 nor Go-2 (Go Road Rehabilitation Programme). It was after lobby efforts that there was some consideration for a small intervention in the constituency,” Crawford claimed.

“And when the SPARK came to the forefront, equally there was no consideration for North West St Catherine,” added the Opposition MP.

Crawford told the House that when he examined the reasons for the selection of roads under SPARK, they point to connectivity and how effectively the selected roads act as an artery driving national commerce, connecting parishes, agricultural districts, and tourism.

“I therefore wondered on what basis could Ewarton to Lluidas Vale not be included,” he remarked.

He pointed out that Lluidas Vale is the home of the Worthy Park Sugar Factory — one of two remaining in the country — and which is responsible for processing 66 per cent of the cane grown in Jamaica.

“It employs 900 persons directly, contracts 1,017 farms; this sounds significant,” said Crawford who added, “That particular road is the only entry that facilitates 45,000 truckloads of cane, 33 tonnes each, amounting to 150,000 tonnes of cane.”

Apart from cane, there’s molasses which, Crawford said, amounted to eight loads per day for 170 days amounting totalling 1,360 loads.

“When combined with sugar, this is 2,720 trips of finished products, yet we were not included,” he lamented.

Crawford also pointed out that the Ewarton to Lluidas Vale road is used by students attending schools such as Bog Walk High, Ewarton High, Dinthill Technical High and Charlemont High.

The Opposition lawmaker also highlighted that it was the only connector to the Linstead Hospital.

Crawford also pointed to the Ewarton to Mount Rosser road which, he said, “has been…left in a state of disrepair since the opening of the North-South Highway”.

He noted that this is the alternative route to the highway and argued that for some reason it, too, has been neglected.

“There are some people who have indicated that this might be purposely so, so that persons are forced to use the highway; I don’t believe that to be true, and I ask the Government to help to prove that to be disinformation,” said Crawford.

“This is the system through which all the taxis leave from Linstead to St Ann, and for some reason it was not involved [in any road programme],” added Crawford as he pleaded for these two roads to be included in the next budget.